STC?Physical Education instructor Lon Wilkerson and 3rd grader Ally Killian try their hands at stacking cups during the world record participation at the South Tama Elementary School on Thursday, Nov. 14. Chronicle photos/John Speer

With 30 South Tama Elementary School students joining students world-wide, a new Guinness World Records for cup stacking has been set.

That’s the word from the World Sport Stacking Association website which said the goal of more than 500,000 cups stacked beginning Nov. 14 on Guinness World Record Day was accomplished.

The website reports more than 2,800 schools joined in.

If you’re under age 30 or have kids who are, you most likely know what cup stacking is.

“It’s a left-side, right-side brain exercise” according to South Tama physical education teacher Lon Wilkerson.

His hands are a blur as Lane Lekin quickly stacks cups on Thursday, Nov. 14. Ashlynn Ellenbecker is waiting her turn at the STC?Elementary in Tama.

“Sport stacking (also known as cup stacking or speed stacking) is an individual and team sport that involves stacking specialized plastic cups in specific sequences in as little time as possible,” according to Guinness.

What it involves is simply some plastic cups which participants rearrange in different stacks. They might compete in races or time events.

But it’s not as easy as it looks: try it.

Wilkerson can take about a dozen of the cups, arrange, stack and rearrange them in a prescribed manner in 20 seconds. He says the world record for this particular maneuver is seven seconds.

He is offering it for a second year as part of physical ed. classs he teaches. A couple of class sessions are offered two or three times throughout the course of the school year.

Kobe Van Dee tests his skills on the mat which times cup stacking. The equipment was purchased by STC?Elementary Boosters.

STC students even have “timer pads” which electronically clock their activity. The pads are part of a kit purchased by the South Tama Elementary Boosters for the P. E. program.

South Tama students who took part in the world record-breaking event were:

Here’s more facts about cup stacking from Guinness:

The sport was invented by Wayne Godinet,who introduced the first formations and dubbed the sport “Karango Cup Stack”. Shortly thereafter, Godinet formed a group called Cupstack.

Physical education teacher Bob Fox later developed the activity into a true sport by formalizing the rules and establishing a governing body, the World Sport Stacking Association (WSSA).

Sport Stacking received national attention in 1990 when it featured on US TV talk show, The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with in the sport enjoying a huge increase in participants its appearance on the programme.

In 2007, Steven Purugganan, then aged 10, broke the world record for fastest sport stacking individual cycle stack with a time of 7.23, helping him to earn a TV commercial deal with the restaurant chain McDonald’s.

Students taking part were:

3rd Grade:

Mollie Wobeter

Elizabeth Vesely

Katie Husak

Nolan Upah

Kortney Babinat

Jeremiah Cook

Aaliyah Davenport

Ally Killian

Jordan Spooner

4th Grade:

Breana Riha

Demitri Ferneau

Kalee Gomez

Luis Aralos

Jordan Bly

Jo Jo Tyynismaa

Neena Lasley

Lauren Veit

Jonathan Meyer

Clayton Graff

5th Grade:

Briana Rubio

Jackey Merino

Miles Davenport

Kobe Van Dee

Chloee Kirklin

Ashlynn Ellenbecker

Hope Werner

Lane Lekin

Sydney Parizek

Morgan Haughey