Kindness stood strong as fifth grade students at Stillwater Elementary—in collaboration with the Kindness Club—tumbled their way to a record-breaking STEAM experience for the third consecutive year.
The excitement began in the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) Lab, where teacher Wendy Johnston had been teaching fifth-grade students about the basics of forces in motion and chain reactions. Turning curiosity into action, students explored and designed their own chain reaction courses using dominos, experimenting with curves, spacing and strategies so one toppled domino wouldn’t ruin the entire chain.
To take their experiment to the next level, students teamed up with the Kindness Club to ask the Stillwater Elementary community for help. A flyer was sent home explaining the project and kindly requesting families to donate an unopened box of cereal. Members of the Kindness Club also designed posters, which were displayed around the building to raise awareness of the endeavor. All donations would go to the Stillwater Elementary Backpack Program, with a goal of collecting 750 unopened boxes of cereal.
Between Oct. 6-17, 2025, the Stillwater Elementary community collected a total of 505 unopened boxes of cereal, setting a new record. Kindness Club members gathered the boxes each day and their excitement grew as donations continued to roll in. Fifth-graders then planned the course they would design, testing their ideas with a small number of boxes in preparation for the large-scale cereal box tumble. Drawing inspiration from examples at other schools and organizations—including the current world record holder—students decided to create a double row on the “S” at the center of the turf field.
All of the hard work and preparation by fifth-grade students and the Kindness Club culminated on Monday, Oct. 27, as the “S” at the center of the turf field transformed into a colorful sea of cereal boxes. Students and staff from Stillwater Elementary filled the bleachers, brimming with anticipation. With a countdown from three and the push of a single cereal box, everyone watched in awe as each box fell one by one. Once complete, the boxes were reset and the tumble was repeated in reverse.
“This year was all about perseverance and patience,” said STEAM teacher Wendy Johnston. “We had a last minute change of date, the weather was questionable and the wind wanted to participate as much as our students did. It was truly a challenge!”
“Everyone did an amazing job and we pulled off a successful tumble with our new record of 505 cereal boxes!”
Fifth-grader Hudson A. shared his perspective on the experience saying, “The biggest problem we faced was the wind—it wasn’t playing fair at all. We’d set the boxes up and then the wind would blow them over. It helped when we put the boxes on their sides, but it would’ve been way less stressful without the wind.”
Hudson’s classmate MaKenna C. was thrilled to be a part of this year’s challenge, saying “We’ve watched the topple the last two times and now it was our turn! It was really fun to be in charge of everything!”
More than just a STEAM lesson, the cereal box tumble taught students valuable skills such as communication, teamwork, listening and compromise. With the help of the Kindness Club, students brought the Stillwater Elementary community together for a schoolwide effort that benefitted the school’s Backpack Program, proving how learning, collaboration and kindness can make a big impact—one domino (or cereal box) at a time.