Cursive makes a comeback in Brooklyn school

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - In recent years, cursive writing has slowly disappeared from our nation's school curriculums. A principal in Red Hook, Brooklyn, is helping students move towards the future by turning back time. Summit Academy Charter School Principal Cheryl Lundy-Swift says cursive writing is a skill worth teaching.

"It's super important that we all think about putting it back into the school system," Lundy-Swift says. "There are many, many jobs that require handwriting --doctors, nurses, teachers, in fact. It's really important from a life skills perspective."

Tiye-La Williams, an 8th grader, agrees.

"When teachers grade your work -- when they give you your feedback, they're going to write it in cursive," she says. "You have to read it and understand it."

Cursive writing has been in U.S. schools for over 300 years. Until the 1970s, penmanship was a separate lesson and even given a separate grade on report cards. Today, more time is given to technology, possibly affecting the study of historical documents.

"The Declaration of Independence, for example, is in fact written in cursive," Lundy-Swift says. "It's important that they are able to look at that document and not be a foreign language to them."

"If I know how to write in it, I can read it better," says Isabella Rodriguez, a 7th grader.

A combination of communication tactics would better serve students.

"I really want our scholars to be able to communicate effectively, period," Lundy-Swift says. "In today's world, that should be handwriting, keyboarding, tablets, and such."

That could lead the way for confident future leaders.

"It really shows to other people what we're really capable of," says Jesus Reyes, an 8th grader.