Perry ? It was organized chaos inside Perry Elementary School’s gym.

On Thursday, students joined speed stackers from around the world in an attempt to shatter a world record – by stacking and unstacking plastic cups. World Sport Stacking Association organizers expected nearly 200,000 people to participate, though they won’t know final numbers until next week.

The frenetic pace was a big hit with students at Perry, where students in all classes have stacked for several years.

“It’s pretty fun because you have to stack them pretty fast,” fourth-grader Jamie Dupuis, 9, said as he raced around the gym with his classmates.

Substitute teacher Erin Damme – filling in Thursday for regular physical education teacher Jill Larson-Bradney – divided the first class of 21 fourth-grade students in half. One group was stackers, who built up pyramids. The other was ‘dozers, who neatly and briskly unstacked them.

Sport Stacking is all about speed. Participants build pyramids with 12 specially designed cups – called Speed Stacks. The stacks are dismantled, and new pyramids are built.

In addition to the stacking, the Perry physical education staff incorporated jumping jacks, running, push-ups and sit-ups into the regimen. More than 100 Perry students stacked toward the world record.

Although not as taxing as jumping or running, Damme said stacking strengthens hand-eye coordination.

“You can race other people, and you can sometimes, if you’re really good, you can go on to bigger and better stuff,” said fourth-grader Shelby Easum, 9.