Cursive is making a comeback in Pennsylvania classrooms this April under a new state law.

Why it matters: Spending valuable class time teaching students to put pen to paper is a nationwide trend, despite students using computers for a growing share of assignments.

Driving the news: The new mandate, passed in February, elevates writing "print, joined italics and cursive handwriting" as an essential subject alongside reading, history and arithmetic that all Pennsylvania students must be taught in public and private schools.

• The state Department of Education is developing guidance and expectations for schools.

Flashback: Pennsylvania and many other states ditched cursive writing as a mandatory subject in the early 2010s when they adopted Common Core education standards, which focused more on keyboard skills.

Yes, but: Many districts across the Keystone State have continued to teach cursive, including Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Zoom in: Kristen Justus, assistant superintendent of elementary education and curriculum for Pine-Richland School District, tells Axios the district teaches cursive as part of its second-grade curriculum and plans to continue with updated guidance.

• "As a district, we were already planning in-service sessions to review all of our collective commitments within English Language Arts this spring," said Justus.
• The New Kensington-Arnold School District told TribLive in February it was in the process of revising its curriculum to include cursive — likely in first or second grades.

Between the lines: Studies have shown that learning cursive can help improve students' memories and motor skills.

Plus: There's a close link between reading and writing, while cursive has several additional benefits, Shawn Datchuk, a special education expert and former director of the Iowa Reading Research Center, tells Axios.

• When writing cursive, students are learning how to connect letters while engaging in spelling words — foundational skills for how much students write and the quality of their writing, he said.
• And in the age of computer spellcheckers, students still need some spelling skills to use them, he noted.

The big picture: Republican State Rep. Dane Watro, who sponsored the House bill, said it boosts civic engagement by keeping historical documents like the U.S. Constitution accessible.

The bottom line

Pittsburgh is the second-best city in the country at celebrating Easter, according to a WalletHub study, and when you look around, it makes sense why.

🐰 Why it matters: Easter is, of course, about Christianity, but for secular celebrators it's also about candy — and the Pittsburgh region has a plethora of local confectioners offering sweets made on-site.

🍭 Zoom in: Sarris out of Canonsburg is the most well-known and widely available, but nearly every slice of the region has its own candy maker.

• 🥚 Anderson's Candies in Baden, Beaver County, has scores of flavors of massive chocolate eggs.
• 🥔 Dorothy's Candies in White Oak has chocolate-covered potato chips for a sweet-salty treat.
• 🍒 Pink House Chocolates in Finleyville, Washington County, specializes in cherry cordials.
• 🍨 Yetter's Candies in Millvale has a retro feel and still functions as a candy shop, ice cream spot and lunch counter.

🥜 Zoom out: Pennsylvania's most popular Easter candy last year was Reese's Peanut Butter Bunnies, according to a DoorDash analysis.

🪖 Flashback: The Clark Bar is Pittsburgh's most famous candy export. It was popularized in WWI and WWII, originally made in a factory on the North Side, the peanut butter-chocolate bar is now made by the Boyer Candy Co. in Altoona.

🗓️ What's next: Let this serve as a reminder to stock up before Sunday.

More local candy

🚉 All light-rail rides and rides on the Mon Incline will be free during the NFL Draft between April 23-25, thanks to a sponsorship deal with Sheetz announced last week.

• Train riders usually have to pay fare from Station Square, the South Hills and beyond, but won't have to during the draft. (Axios)

🍔 Burghers Brewing is moving into the former Sly Fox space at the Highline building near Station Square, and they will sell pizza at that location. (Pittsburgh Magazine)

🍽️ Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato signed an executive order to streamline the county's restaurant permitting process as wait times to get a food permit have increased over the years as demand grew. (TribLive)

🐾 Local advocates say animal shelters are being strained when pet owners are detained by ICE. (WPXI)

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The Moonshot Museum, a space museum located in Astrobotic's North Side headquarters, highlighted women in aerospace with a focus on inclusion, mentorship and the industry's future at an event last week.

Why it matters: "Aerospace wasn't originally designed with women in mind," said Moonshot educator Stephanie Carlson, making efforts to expand representation critical to the industry's future.

Zoom in: The inaugural "Women in Space" event featured a panel discussion with women working in aerospace, engineering and robotics.

• Special guests were offered a tour of Astrobotic, the Pittsburgh-based space exploration company connected to the museum.
• The company works with NASA to launch lunar landers into space, sending rovers to the Moon for research missions.

The bottom line: "Until I see half and half of both women and men building that lunar lander, our job is not nearly done," said Astrobotic marketing and communications director Alivia Chapla.

If you go: The Moonshot Museum is located at 1016 N. Lincoln Ave. in the North Side

• Thursday-Sunday 11am-4pm