EARLY YEARS: National Thank-You Letter Day

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - In an era when most of us show our thanks with a quick text or social media message, the art of letter-writing might seem a bit old-fashioned.

But don’t tell that to author Carew Papritz.

An idea struck him while he was teaching a handwriting class at an Arizona elementary school about seven years ago.

“I’m on the whiteboard and I’m writing up there, and they’re just falling asleep and like, so bored to death.This idea popped into my head and I said, You know what, I turned to them and said, Why don’t we create the world’s largest hand-written thank you letter in the world? And let’s make it the size of a football field,” says Papritz.

They did it.

Instead of being the size of a football field, it was the size of a school basketball gym.

To make it into the Guinness World Record books, Papritz says over two months and about 30 rolls of butcher paper taped together.

“All the kids signed it. So, you’ve got 600 signatures. You’ve got all the teachers’ signatures,” he says.

But Papritz didn’t stop there, creating National Thank You Letter Day and National Thank You Letter Month.

It’s a movement he’s encouraging families and classes to continue, promoting literacy skills and kindness.

“I think bringing it back is vital to our civility and kindness and teaching kids what manners are about. This is what you do, not just for presents, but for someone who does an act of kindness for you,” says Papritz.

Learn more about Papritz and the World’s Largest Thank You Letter by clicking here.