Schools

VIDEO: Hundreds Create Umbrella Mosaic of African Elephant to Raise Money For Kenyan Schools

Although an attempt to break a Guinness World Record falls short, more than $3,000 was raised to push Shorewood's Schools for Kenya Club past its goal

The students of Shorewood High School's Schools for Kenya Club attempted to create the world's biggest umbrella mosaic in the shape of an elephant Friday afternoon at Shoreline Stadium— and while it fell short of the Guinness World Record, a fundraising goal was met by the students to build a school in Kenya. 

The umbrella mosaic in the shape of an African elephant or an umbrellephant, featured up to 1,000 people with colorful umbrellas unfurled and twirling as music played in the background for 10 minutes.

The organizers held out until after 5 p.m. to allow as many people as possible to gather on the Shoreline Stadium turf.

Find out what's happening in Shoreline-Lake Forest Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Senior Bethany Smith, one of the student organizers, said the Schools for Kenya Club wanted to go out with a bang and the umbrella mosaic idea was the result of brainstorming sessions earlier this year.

"We thought of doing something Seattle-like, umbrellas, and African, like an elephant," she said.

Find out what's happening in Shoreline-Lake Forest Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Schools for Kenya Club's fundraising is a way to "pay it forward" to show its appreciation for the new Shorewood and Shorecrest High Schools buildings that are being built right now and will be completed by 2013.

Schools for Kenya Club had raised $6,000 so far and the $3,324 raised Friday from donations by participants pushed the group past its goal of $8,500 for a total of $9,324.

All the donated money goes to the Free The Children organization that builds elementary and high schools in rural Kenya.

In the end, they raised $3,340 for the club. That pushed their overall total for their project to over $9,300, well over their goal of $8,500.

Many students, school district staff members and community members participated but the effort was short of the world record 2,116 umbrella-holding individuals.

The largest umbrella mosaic consisted of 2,115 participants and was achieved by the Southern Highlands Youth Arts Council Inc. (Australia), at Bradman Oval Bowral, in New South Wales, Australia, on May 7, 2011, according to Guinness.

The umbrella consisted of 2,115 participants forming the image of Mary Poppins holding her Umbrella.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Shoreline-Lake Forest Park