3,473 Avondale kids set high-five world record
It took 67 minutes for the nearly 3,500 third- through eighth-graders to high-five one at a time in a chain.
Some eager and some shy, the 3,473 children from the Avondale Elementary School District high-fived in a line that snaked around the Fiesta Bowl field at Avondale Middle School.
With the last high five – accomplished with an enthusiastic jump – they completed an attempt to break the Guinness world record for longest "high-five" chain on Tuesday.
Kids screamed and steamers rained down when a Guinness representative announced that they broke the record.
The title previously was held by Sacred Hearts High School in Taiwan, where 2,711 people spent 48 minutes high-fiving in December 2015.
An opportunity for charity
“What better way to inspire young kids and remind them that anything is possible than to shatter a world record,” Joe Gaudio, CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Arizona, said in a statement.
Fiesta Bowl Charities and UnitedHealthcare organized the event with Playworks, a nonprofit that works to "improve children’s health and well-being by creating a safe and productive environment in schools through physical activity and safe, meaningful play," according to the statement.
The two also partnered to give Playworks of Arizona a $100,000 grant to help them expand their work to 50 schools, serving close to 35,000 students this year, and to donate the 2016 Cactus Bowl playing field and scoreboard to a Valley school.