Watch as Bluffton elementary students break world record for cereal box domino chain
It took 6,000-plus cereal boxes and six tries, but Bluffton’s Red Cedar Elementary School broke a Guinness World Record Monday morning for the longest recorded domino chain of cereal boxes.
The boxes, which were collected by students, staff and community members, are getting tagged with handwritten notes from students and donated to the food pantry at Bluffton Self Help.
But first, all 6,153 boxes were lined up in the school’s cafeteria to be toppled.
The current Guinness World Record for “most cereal boxes toppled in a domino fashion” is held by H. Frank Carey High School in Franklin Square, New York, which toppled 3,416 boxes in 2017.
Despite several false starts due to spaced out corners and pesky weight distribution inside of the boxes, Red Cedar’s sixth attempt at the record was successful, with 3,730 boxes knocked over.
That needs to be verified by Guinness, but the school recorded a video of the topple and got three independent judges to count the boxes that fell, both requirements for record-breaking.
Principal Kathleen Corley presided over the ceremony in a Cheerios shirt and a Tony the Tiger mask (teachers wore shirts that said “event staff,” with cereal brand logos ranging from Trix to Wheaties).
On the school’s successful sixth attempt, she brought out a set of marching band quad drums to liven up the proceedings.
“Even if we only keep the record for 20 minutes, that’s pretty cool,” she said.
Corley said the notes on the boxes were inspired by a previous drive to collect water bottles for soldiers that she led at Bluffton Elementary. After the bottles were delivered, a lieutenant called her to say he’d received three of the bottles, one of which said “thanks for being there.”
“I get chills every time I think of that,” she said. “This is not the same, but there’s person-to-person contact. We thought that would be a nice touch. There’s also going to be a QR code linking the person to video of this.”
Due to COVID-19 restrictions and the sheer volume of cereal in the school’s cafeteria, only three classes — those who donated the most boxes — got to watch the event in person. The rest watched a livestream.
Kristen Howell’s first grade class was the top donator, with 16 students and one teacher giving 712 boxes to the school.
“We had one student bring in 100 boxes from the jump, and that lit a fire under everyone,” Howell said.
Kimberly Hall, executive director of Bluffton Self Help, estimated that the donation would provide 60,000 meals to Beaufort County residents in need.
“The notes really are the neatest part of this,” she said. Corley “has a wonderful way of teaching kids about community.”