House Creek Elementary holds 2nd annual Cup Stacking Championship
By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press
Before the last day of school, the third, fourth and fifth grade students at House Creek Elementary gathered for one final event – a cup-stacking competition held in the cafeteria Thursday morning.
P.E. teacher Michael Sheon introduced cup stacking to the students last year, during the last month of school.
“I brought in my guitar, and I was teaching them about dexterity, hand eye coordination, patterns, and then got rid of the guitar, and I started working with them cup stacking,” Sheon said.
Sheon said that he and the other staff at House Creek wanted to do more with it and decided to hold a cup stacking tournament on the last day of school last year. It was a big hit, and when students returned to school this year, they asked when they could do it again, Sheon said.
Sheon talked about the response from the kids.
“We have the shyest kids that never really want to talk to adults or get up in front of anybody. Now they’re able to get up in front of a large crowd, do something that is extremely complex for them and walk away with big smiles on their faces.”
Sheon said that this activity is perfect for students who might not be the ones to go on a sports team.
“This is one reason why we also do this because sports doesn’t have to always be about the team and whatnot,” Sheon said. “Sometimes it’s about what the individual can do, and this is a situation where anybody can do this, and that is one of the things I absolutely love about it.”
At the championship, there were several groups of four kids in each grade level competing to advance to the finals round. Two kids from each group advanced to the finals round, and eventually the winners were whittled down to the top four.
Fifth-grader Delilah Cacarez, 11, was one of the students who made it to the initial championship round Thursday morning. Although she didn’t progress to the finals round, she did learn a lesson in being supported by her classmates and overcoming her nerves. She said it was scary being up on the stage as she stacked her cups. She added that she got really nervous seeing everyone in the crowd watching. She pushed through and finished her round, however.
Camden Summers, 11, won the title of Champion for the 5th grade competition with a time of 14.3 seconds. Summers said that it was very nerve wracking preparing for this and competing in front of his classmates Thursday morning.
“It’s just fun to see what time you get,” Summers said about his favorite part of cup stacking.
They devoted two weeks to cup stacking activities prior to the qualifying rounds held at the beginning of May to reintroduce students to it, Sheon said. The TEKS unit associated with the cup stacking is normally done in the fall, he added. While students used to start by learning how to hold a pencil in their hand, now they are typing on keyboards and using tablets.
“The better dexterity you have, the more efficient they become,” Sheon said. “But the applications of this go further than anything with dexterity. You’re learning about complex tasks. You’re learning about accepting outcomes. You’re learning about how to improve on things.”
The winners of this year’s Cup Stacking Championship are listed below.
3rd Grade
In third place, Arialana Siatunuu, with a time of 25.1 seconds. In second place, Kendall Courtney, with a time of 23.4 seconds. The Champion for third grade is Briah Canady, with a time of 21.6 seconds.
4th Grade
In third place, Alliyah Farnum, with a time of 16.4 seconds. In second place, Ann Marie Hammett, with a time of 16.3 seconds. The Champion for fourth grade is Bryson Stevens with a speedy time of 12.3 seconds.
5th Grade
In fourth place is Isabella Hall, with a time of 17.9 seconds. In third place, Stacia Drayton, with a time of 17.1 seconds. In second place, Maxwell Holland, with a time of 16.4 seconds. The Champion for fifth grade is Camden Summers, with a time of 14.1 seconds.