Thursday, May 2, 2013

 Longest chain of bracelets: Back Mountain students smash Guinness world record (VIDEOS)

SWEET VALLEY, PA, USA -- Students of Ross Elementary School in the Lake-Lehman School District created 7,507 friendship bracelets this school year in a bid to break a Guinness World Record while advancing the school's anti-bullying message; the bracelets stretched a whopping 2,678.02 feet (that's more than a half-mile) when they were officially counted and measured, setting the new world record for the Longest chain of bracelets, according to the World Record Academy: www.worldrecordacademy.com/ .

  Photo: Ross Elementary School Art teacher Jill Vonderhook pulls a string of friendship bracelets down a 200-foot path in an attempt to break the current Guinness World Record of 4,123 bracelets. ( enlarge photo )

 The Guinness world record for the longest chain of bracelets consists of 3,799 friendship bracelets assembled by 600 students at Owingsville Elementary School (USA) in Owingsville, Kentucky, USA, on 20 May 2011. The bracelet measured the length of the school's outdoor running track, 246.89 m (810 ft).

  Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the longest paperclip chain; it is 37.41 km (23.25 miles) long, and was completed by employees of Lyreco Deutschland GmbH (Germany), in an event at Hotel InterContinental in Berlin, Germany.

  Ross Elementary School Principal Donald James had the idea over the summer. The goal: for elementary students to assemble the most friendship bracelets in a chain.

  The school hosted a day of activities Wednesday to coincide with the official measurement for the World Record, which was conducted by personnel from the local engineering firm of Borton Lawson Engineering.

  "It took two surveyors and an official witness more than three hours to meticulously count, measure and record each and every one of the 7,000-plus bracelets the Ross students made this school year," The Citizens' Voice reported.

  Most students, wearing T-shirts with the words, "Ross Elementary Tied Together in Friendship Guinness World Record May 2013," watched in awe as the bracelets were unspooled, knowing they did their part in helping the school be considered for the record, The Sunday Dispatch reported.