The Making of the World’s Largest Handwritten Thank You Letter
The Continental School Students who helped make the letter!
Who: The “World’s Largest Handwritten Thank You” Letter was created as a school-wide effort by the students, teachers, and staff at Continental Elementary/ Middle School in Green Valley, Arizona.
When: It was officially revealed to the world as it was rolled out on the Continental School basketball floor on November 14, 2018—the first ever “National Thank You Letter Day.” Over 700 students and people from the community attended the event.
How Big: The letter is 85 feet long by 50 feet wide, the exact size of a middle school basketball court.
World Record Event: This is the first-ever Largest Thank You Letter and thus makes it a world record!
Materials: The letter is one large sheet of paper comprised of rolls of butcher paper taped together. The handwritten letters are painted black.
Who Signed It: The letter ends with “Sincerely” and is signed by more than 600+ students, teachers, and staff at Continental Elementary/Middle School
The Actual Letter: The letter is formatted as an actual letter with the date in the upper right-hand corner and begins with the salutation, “Dear Mom & Dad, and My Teachers.” The actual letter was written by students from the Continental Cursive Club. The letter is addressed to the students’ mom, dad, and teachers, thanking them for everything that they do for the students.
Dear Mom & Dad and My Teachers, Thank you for helping me learn and taking good care of me. And being nice to me. Thank you for always helping me to accomplish anything I can’t do. Thank you for giving me food and clothes and shoes to wear. Thank you for helping me with everything. You are the best. Sincerely, written by The Students of continental elementary/middle school, green valley, az
Students working on World’s Largest Thank You Letter.
Students working and playing on top of World’s Largest Thank You Letter
Continental students are signing their names on the World’s Largest Thank You Letter.
A close-up view of a giant Thank You.
Different sentences in the World’s Largest Thank You Letter.
More writing and painting on the World’s Largest Thank You Letter
Watch this short video of the World’s Largest Handwritten Thank You Letter as its revealed by the students of Continental School!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8eMvFNFTGA
More Fun Details about the Creation of The World’s Largest Thank You Letter!
Carew has been a long-time advocate of cursive writing, speaking and writing extensively about the importance of teaching cursive in schools. He has been a big supporter of the Cursive Club at Continental School.
Carew wanted the “Big Letter” to be authentic in its sound and intent. He wanted the kids to write the letter.
With the help of the Cursive Club teacher, Kathy Reiman, Carew had the students hand write thank you letters to their parents and teachers. Carew then took their actual words and sentences, which helped create the actual letter itself.
Civics Club teacher, Wendy Fanning, had members of the Continental Civics club help construct the letter by rolling out the paper, taping it together, and painting the handwritten letters.
The letter took over 2 weeks of effort to create with the active help of over 10 students from the civics club.
On November 13, the entire school, class-by-class, signed the bottom 1/3 of the Thank You letter (below the “Sincerely). From kindergartners to 8th graders, the entire student body signed the letter including teachers, staff, and administration.
On November 14, the entire school had an assembly to officially “roll out” the letter. A number of the school’s teachers and staff spoke to the importance of being thankful during the upcoming Thanksgiving break and promoting the school’s values of being kind to one another.
Poster from First-Ever National Thank You Letter Day & World’s Largest Handwritten Thank You Letter
