The mountain of more than 5,600 stuffed animals in the gymnasium at Andover's Shawsheen School rose 10 feet high: Beanie Babies, teddy bears, smiling alligators, puffy dogs, a child-sized Winnie the Pooh, a 4-foot penguin, a 5-foot Bugs Bunny, and a stuffed gorilla the size of, well, a gorilla.
The elementary school collected the animals for charity from school and community members. In the process, the Shawsheen School hoped to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of plush toys.
The school has run a stuffed animal drive for 12 years for a program that pairs tutors from Phillips Academy and Andover High School with middle school students from Lawrence.
Thomas Cone, a Phillips teacher who directs the program, said some toys will be given as academic prizes to the Lawrence students and the rest shared with children at hospitals, libraries, and orphanages in Belize.
"It was a huge turnout for public support," Cone said of the drive.
Organizers said the 5,657 toys collected more than doubled the current record, set in 2006 by National Geographic KIDS Magazine, though it could take Guinness a few weeks to make it official. The students learned of their feat at an assembly Monday, when the cuddly creatures were piled so high they nearly touched basketball rims in the gymnasium.
"The kids were honestly wild, they were just so excited," said principle Moira O'Brien. "It was really nice, mostly to remember why they did it."
KATE AUGUSTO
