Seven-year-old first grader Anaya Ellick, who was born without hands, won in the recent U.S. national penmanship contest participated by around 300,000 students from kindergarten to eighth grade.
Anaya, who is from Chesapeake, Virginia and uses her forearms to write, beat 50 other competitors to win the special-needs category prize at the National Handwriting Contest. The category rewards students with intellectual, physical and developmental disability, reports CBN News.
"She does not let anything get in the way of doing what she has set out to do,'' Tracy Cox, Ellick's principal from Greenbrier Christian Academy, told ABC News.
"She is a hard worker and has some of the best handwriting in her class,'' added Cox.
Anaya's penmanship was reportedly submitted in the category that encourages the participation of students with cognitive delays, or intellectual, physical or developmental disabilities and judged by a team of occupational therapists. The competition had very strict guidelines. Judges, for instance, looked at how far Anaya was spacing her letters out, according to the report.
"We looked at her writing and were just stunned to see how well her handwriting was, considering she writes without hands," competition director Kathleen Wright told ABC News. "Her writing sample was comparable to someone who had hands."
Ron H. White Greenbrier, founder and superintendent of Greenbrier Christian Academy, told ABC News that Anaya's peers treat her no differently than other students, and she keeps up with them. "I don't think Anaya thinks of it as an obstacle,'' he said.
Wright said the winner of the handwriting competition is awarded the Nicholas Maxim Special Award for Excellence in Penmanship.
Sponsors of the contest Zaner-Bloser said they planned to award each student $1,000 (£690), BBC reports.
Anaya's mother, Bianca Middleton, expressed belief that while her daughter may be different or may be going through some hard and rough times, she will "persevere.''
In 2013, 30-year-old pilot Jessica Cox who is also handless, brought inspiration to physically handicapped people when she reportedly drove a car, flew an plane and played piano using her feet.
