Taking a 'quack' at a world record: High schoolers attempt to break Duck, Duck Goose record

May 21—Donning a goose hat and feathered shirt, North Vigo senior Brady King may have served as the unofficial mascot of Friday's effort to break the Guinness world record for the largest game of Duck, Duck, Goose.

Students from Terre Haute North, South and West Vigo high schools gathered just outside the South football field and track, where the massive event was staged.

The event was part of a field day rewarding students for 50,000 hours of community service this past year.

King volunteered to be one of the three "its" to kick off the 16-minute record-breaking attempt.

"I'm ready to have fun... I'm ready to go wild," he said.

He bought the outfit a few months ago as a joke, but it was perfect for Friday's undertaking.

Students were bused in from North and West, with plenty of staff and school security on hand as well.

A few South Vigo English teachers wore hula skirts to add to the festive atmosphere. "It's hopefully a positive day for the students and a positive way to end the school year," said teacher Peggy Grabowski.

As the attempted record-breaking feat was about to begin, all students were asked to sit in sort of a circle. They lined up outside the track — along fences, in front of bleachers and in the tennis courts.

South students wore red T-shirts, North Vigo, navy shirts and the Vikings were in green.

"This is one heck of a circle," said South Vigo teacher Jim Mann, who served as announcer using a public address system.

Mann highlighted some of the exciting moments as the "geese" chased the "its" around the circle, and he periodically announced how much time was left. "There's quite a race on the tennis courts," Mann said at one point.

Drones were used to document numbers of students and staff participating to present to Guinness. The district also used tickets and a clicker counter as well as video recordings.

"I feel like a little kid right now," King said as he awaited the start of the event. The other starting "its" were Maiya Lewis from South and Cameron Roush from West Vigo.

Within about three minutes, King "goosed" another student, who quickly tagged him. The tagged "its" went to the football field.

"It was so much fun. I got caught kind of quick — I picked a track athlete. I didn't know that," King said later.

When the game ended, Haworth — with the North, South and West Vigo "its" by his side — described what the day's events were all about. It was a celebration of students' collective efforts to provide community service and break a world record.

"This group behind me, they represent what is great and what is good in Vigo County," Haworth said. "We congratulate all of our students."

VCSC will know in about a week whether they beat the record, which was 2,135 people at Logan-Rogersville School District in Rogersville, Missouri set Oct. 7, 2011. That game lasted 15 minutes and 55 seconds.

At the conclusion of Duck, Duck, Goose, students participated in a variety of outdoor activities, including some intense live action role play; cornhole; whiffle ball and a staff and student game of tug-of-war.

Lunch was provided by VCSC's food services department, with several food trucks also participating. Community partners helped sponsor the Team Vigo field day.

North student Kaleb Heubel said trying to achieve a world record "is cool ... but I'm kind of mad I got tagged" early in the event.

Overall, the Team Vigo field day "is a great idea," Heubel said. "Everyone gets along."

Once other events began, several students went to the south end of the football field to participate in live action role play, with several carrying foam pool noodles as their swords; others had shields, and one wore a viking helmet.

One of the participants was Luiz Nemenzo, a North senior, who explained that the objective is to be "the last one surviving." Other players can be "disabled" by hitting them in the legs or arms with the pool noodles.

"It's really fun and intense," he said.

West Vigo principal Ryan Easton summarized the day's events this way:

"Today was a great day to be a high school student at Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South and West Vigo. There were red, green and blue shirts running around everywhere, having a great time, but at the end of the day it showcased our unity."

Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com Follow Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue.