Students at Decas Elementary School collected nearly 700 boxes of cereal for Damien’s Pantry over the past few weeks, and to celebrate, teachers and administrators carefully set each box in a row to be knocked down like dominos while students cheered. 

The line of boxes stretched down one long hallway, around the corner, down another hallway, and out the door. Watching them fall was just as exciting as one would imagine.

As students carefully sat along the walls of the hallway, staying away from the line of boxes, exclamations of surprise and excitement filled the halls.

When everyone arrived, kindergarten student Kenzie Sullivan had the honor of knocking down the first box and setting off the chain reaction.

Sullivan brought 46 boxes of cereal in for the drive — more than any other student in the school.

“My mom and my family are really competitive,” Sullivan explained. 

She said she brought in three boxes the first day, and more and more over the weeks.

“I got to knock down this whole thing,” said Sullivan, whose favorite cereal is Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Sullivan said that it was “fun” and that she wasn’t nervous ahead of time.

Sullivan is a student in Maggie Kuppin’s kindergarten class, which brought in more boxes than any other classroom. Marie Jacinto’s first grade classroom brought in the second-most boxes, and Dori Kais’ class came in third. 

Jane Collins-Fondulis, the director of Beyond School Time, said that the event was a celebration of Global Youth Service Day. Although that day is typically celebrated on April 26, Decas School’s event was postponed until all students were back in school so everyone could join in on the fun. Her office was awarded a grant related to the service day.

Although the line of boxes was long, it wasn’t quite long enough for every student to watch at once. So teachers carefully set the line back up after the first group watched, and things ran smoothly for the second crowd of kids.

After all the boxes fell, kids looked to see if they could spot a box they brought in, while some scouted cereal they wanted to try: “Peanut butter crunch, what?!”

All boxes will be donated to the Damien’s Place Family Pantry.