New York City, here I come! I’m taking STEM promotion on the road to the Big Apple to appear on the TODAY show. On Friday, Sept 9^th during the 10AM slot (4^th hour) with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, I’m going to attempt to set a blindfold speed juggling Guinness World Record on the TODAY show to help illustrate that if you set your mind to a goal and pursue it with a passion, you can accomplish anything.  (I should be on around 10:15 AM w/previews starting earlier. I think it shows 10AM in most local time zones).

It’s not about the juggling, it’s about inspiring students to pursue STEM education – which is hard, just like setting world records. One of the problems is that when students struggle, they think they don’t have the gift or the natural talent for math or science. But it’s not about having natural talent; it’s about hard work, believing in yourself and getting access to the resources you need to fulfill your potential.

Continue reading TODAY Show World Record Attempt Sept 9th! →

This is the one that comes with the coolest title of my 6 Guinness World Records. I’m still in denial: it doesn’t seem real, or even possible. There are so many jugglers far more talented and experienced than me… then again, they’re probably spending time practicing much more interesting things. According to Guinness World Record rules, I’m now the fastest juggler in the world with 3 balls (which has more catches than any other number of balls). I guess that means I have a legitimate claim (one of many) to the title: World’s Fastest Juggler.

Continue reading World’s Fastest Juggler →

On Saturday, June 4th I’ll be competing in the finals of Idaho’s Got Talent at the Village at Meridian form 11 AM – 1 PM. For my act finale, I’ll be attempting to set the Guinness World Record for Most Juggling Catches in a Minute (3 balls). It’s my most ambitious record attempt yet, as it would give me a legitimate claim to the title of “World’s Fastest Juggler”. The current record is 422 catches in 1 minute (over 7 per second!). My 4 and 5 ball speed records are 408 and 370 catches in a minute respectively.

The event it free, outdoors and open to the public. I’d love your support.

As always, I’ll be talking about the importance of STEM and how if students set their mind on a goal and pursue it with a passion, they can accomplish anything.

Today I set my 5^th Guinness World Record at the inaugural FIRST Robotics regional competition in Taco Bell Arena at Boise State. You’d think by now that the nerves wouldn’t get to me, but they still do. On my fifth try I had a 49.6 second run with 364 catches to beat the minimum Guinness threshold of 250.

There were hundreds of students competing with some very impressive robots vying for a spot at the national competition. FIRST is an amazing program that promotes STEM education through robotics, mentorship and gracious professionalism.

Lots of MIT connections: Don Bosse is the FIRST President and MIT alum, VP of development Mark Giordono is an MIT alum, and of course co-founder of FIRST, Woodie Flowers, was a longtime professor of 2.007 which is what FIRST was modeled after. I did the e to the u du dx cheer for them. Before setting the record, I told Jennifer’s story of getting involved with FIRST and how it inspired her to become and mechanical engineer and go off to MIT (and I’m so glad she did, since she’s far and away the best thing I got out of MIT)! And now she’s a walking, talking, woman in STEM success story.

Check out the 1:31 video here:

Check out the Image Gallery Here

Thank you to the team:

Continue reading World’s Fastest Blindfolded Juggler (5th GWR) →

Boise is hosting its first FIRST Robotics Regional competition at the Taco Bell Arena at BSU next weekend. It’s basically a competitive sporting event for academics. On April 2^nd, after the 9AM morning rounds and before the Alliance selection (right before lunch), I’ll be talking to these motivated high school students about the importance of working hard, maintaining a positive mindset and some of the setbacks I once faced in a robot competition.

I’ll then attempt a Guinness World Record to claim title to the World’s Fastest Blindfolded Juggler. “Most juggling catches in a minute blindfolded (three balls)”.

The event is free and open to the public. Come watch these students and their robots compete and catch the juggling show around 10:45.

This record combines elements from two other records: blindfold and speed. It’s also the first record I’ll be attempting that’s new to Guinness (meaning there isn’t a person’s record I’m trying to beat, just a baseline of 250 catches in a minute). That makes sense, as there are probably only a handful of people in the world who can regularly juggle for a full minute blindfolded, let alone fast.

Join us at the Idaho STEM Action Center Pi Day FUNdraising Event on Monday, March 14 at Telaya Winery in Garden City from 6:30-8:30.

At the event, I’ll attempt to break the Guinness World Record for Longest duration balancing a chainsaw on a chin. The current record is 1 minute 42.47 second(s). 

Register HERE by March 11 (or show up at the door).

Read more about the event here

Juggling for STEM at the Kids Fair at Expo Idaho on February 27th, 2016. 3/16/16: Guinness approved it. It’s Official!

After a 30-minute juggling show inspiring kids to pursue STEM education, I attempted to set the Guinness World Record for “Most juggling head rolls in a minute (three balls)”. I beat the previous record of 135 on the first try with 141 but had almost 18 seconds left when I dropped a ball. On the 2nd try I got 194.

Here’s the minute and 1 minute 44 second summary of the day:

CBS News 2 showed up and I gave a short interview about what I was up to and how I try to encourage kids to pursue Science and Technology while I have their attention with juggling.

Thanks to the team.

Thanks also to Kylee Granden at Cumulus media for inviting me and Tommy Collins at NASH FM 97.9 for the great radio voice introduction.

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