Stacking cups to break a record

• Stacking cups

Press Photos by Linda Sailer Jefferson Elementary School third-graders, from left, Clayton Schutt, Colten Krank, Madison Arndt, Jack Unruh and Abigail Semerad put the finishing touches on their design with stacking cups during “Stack Up!” Day on Thursday in Jefferson’s gymnasium.

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The students at Jefferson Elementary School took aim at a Guinness World Record in sport stacking on Thursday.

By participating in the sixth annual World Sport Stacking Association “Stack Up!” day, the students were among 350,000 stackers participating in one day.

Last year, 316,736 stackers from the United States and around the world participated to break the Guiness World Record. The goal was to exceed the record again, said Carlean Jundt, physical education teacher at Jefferson.

A total of 334 Jefferson students participated, coming from kindergarten through third grade and the fifth grade. The fourth graders did not participate.

Jundt uses sport stacking to teach right and left hand coodination.

“It’s a cooperative-type activity — the kids have to have coordination and work both sides of their brain and their hands,” she said.

Beth Selle, Jefferson’s music specialist, assisted with the lesson.

“The reason is because our music and physical education classes are back-to-back in the schedule, so we could get all the children involved instead of half in music and half in gym, she said.

She observed the lesson teaches children to use their right and left hands, to listen to directions and to work together.

This was the third year in which the school participated in the world event. They used large and small cones and other kinds of apparatus for relays and designing creative patterns.

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