It started, appropriately enough, with a dream.
Earlier this year, Rangitoto College Year 13 student Anna Armitage dreamt that her school had broken a world record. She jokingly mentioned it to deputy principal, Mr Searle, who instead of laughing it off, suggested she put together a proposal.
What followed was months of research, planning, and logistical conundrums, culminating on 31 July with thousands of students coming together to attempt the Guinness World Record for the most high fives given by an individual in one hour.The existing record was 2,514. Rangi’s final count? A whopping 3,934.
As ShoreLines was going to print, the result was still awaiting official verification from Guinness World Records, with Anna submitting videos, forms, attendance information, and other evidence. But she and her team are pretty confident.
“We think we’ve met all the criteria,” says Anna, with cautious optimism. “We’ve definitely got the numbers.” Finding the right record had been important.
Anna and her Culture & Globalisation team (Elwin Bao, Haged Elmorsy, Macsen Frith, and Aadrisa Kumar), assisted by one of the head students, Joshua Wang, needed it to be achievable and inexpensive, but also to have some kind of meaning.
With 4,000+ students, Rangi is New Zealand’s largest secondary school, which, perhaps ironically, can sometimes lead to feelings of disconnect, as pupils are separated by year or subjects studied. The high-five challenge offered an opportunity to bring everyone together in a way that had “never been done before in school history”.
There was another rather significant requirement: somebody had to deliver all those high fives.
Call it serendipitous, but a new principal was arriving in Term 2. In only his second week at the school, the Culture & Globalisation team approached Mr Thornton together. “I said, ‘Would you be interested in high-fiving every single student?’ And he responded, ‘I’ll have to think about it, but probably.'”
Fortunately, Mr Thornton was up to the challenge, and his commitment was absolute – even training his arm for the correct movement! He completed all 3,934 qualifying high fives in around 35 minutes.
The world record attempt was also an opportunity to raise money and awareness for a good cause. When the Kindness Collective was suggested, the connection made perfect sense to the organising team. It’s a charity that supports children and families experiencing hardship, providing practical help including food, clothing, winter essentials, and support during difficult times.
“The Kindness Collective brings people together, and that’s what we wanted to do with the high fives,” Anna explains.
“We raised about $1,500, and representatives from the Kindness Collective joined us on the day, along with residents from Knightsbridge Village to help us broaden our community reach and strengthen the school’s partnership that already exists there.”
