Elk Valley Third Grader Kaine Harrison had his name drawn to win this set of commemorative cups from the WSSA for participating in the world record setting event.

TOP PHOTO: It was a fun time had by all as well as a learning experience for the Elk Valley students participating in last month’s record setting performance.

By Charlotte Underwood 

PIONEER, TN (WLAF) – Students from Elk Valley Elementary STEM School recently participated in a world record “sport stacking” event on November 14th -16th. They were part of a larger effort consisting of 2,242 schools/organizations who participated to set the new World Sport Stacking Association (WSSA) record.

Sport stacking, also known as cup stacking or speed stacking, is an individual and team sport that involves stacking 9-12 specially designed cups in pre-determined sequences as quickly as possible. The cups are designed specially with holes to “allow for air to pass through.”

The world record set was for “the most people sport stacking at multiple locations” and included 746,698 stackers, breaking the old record of 737,863. 

The United States had the most participants, but stackers from countries all across the world participated. 

Fifty-four students from Elk Valley Elementary STEM School helped set the new world record. 

The Elk Valley event was organized by Ross Hargis who works with the University of Tennessee Extension Office. He has also been the Afterschool Site Director at Elk Valley for the past nine years.

“Our Afterschool program provides homework help, tutoring, enrichment programs and summer camps for all the grades K-8 at Elk Valley,” Hargis said.

Last year, Ross Hargis learned about the WSSA’s attempt to set a world record, but he didn’t have enough afterschool students to participate, he needed at least 25 kids and only had 15.

According to Hargis, the Afterschool program “invested in a sport stacking curriculum two years ago, as research showed that students who participate in it increase their learning and test scores.”

“Proper cup stacking teaches participants to use both hands, which creates something called “crossing the midline” where both sides of the brain are used and thus increase the connections from each side of the brain. So there is certainly an educational benefit, but to the students, it’s just fun,” Hargis said. 

Last year, Hargis learned about the WSSA’s attempt to set a world record, but he didn’t have enough afterschool students to participate, he needed at least 25 kids and only had 15. So this year, he had the idea to open it up to the whole school to get in on the world record setting challenge. 

“So I reached out to Elk Valley Elementary STEM School Principal Nancy Lay and the teachers and everyone was on board. The curriculum is targeted for 3rd grade and up, so that is what we focused on,” Hargis said.

The world record set was for “the most people sport stacking at multiple locations” and included 746,698 stackers, breaking the old record of 737,863. 

The kids learned the basics of cup stacking the first week of November, then the following week, students spent 30 minutes per group participating in the event to have their numbers counted as part of the world record.

“We made it a competition. The students would stack across from each other, using the mats and timers, and the winners would then play each other, until we finally had one champ. We did this three times in the 30 minutes and the students really seemed to enjoy it,” Hargis said. 

According to the WSSA, “Sport Stacking promotes physical fitness and supports academic learning. Stacking has shown an increase in test scores and levels of concentration. Stacking uses both the right and left sides of the brain.” (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 12/06/2023-6AM)

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