This morning, students at Bowling Green Charter School in Sacramento were extra careful to double knot their shoes and tie their belts tight. They had a Guinness World Record to break.
Mayor Kevin Johnson counted down.
At exactly 9 a.m., a thousand neon-colored jump ropes undulated. A thousand kids and adults hopped up and down in the school's playground.
Van Halen's guitar cadences roared from the loudspeakers: "I get up and nothing gets me down... Might as well jump. Jump!"
The scene was replicated across 40 schools in theSacramento region and 550 schools inCalifornia, the event's organizers said.
Bowling Green Charter School served as the event's headquarters, its activity broadcasted live to rope skippers everywhere from a Rancho Cordova National Guard unit in Iraq to members of the California congressional delegation in Washington.