Class is in session at St. Dominic Savio Catholic school in Kitchener, but students aren’t exactly hitting the books.
“I’m teaching them how to solve the Rubik’s Cube,” said Riley Gellatly, a 13-year-old who has mastered the throwback puzzle.
Gellatly and his mother Shelley travel from classroom to classroom in the Kitchener-Waterloo area giving lessons using a tool that’s very different for Grade 8 students. There are no computers, no batteries, no screens involved.
“The Rubik’s Cube came out in the early 80s, but I couldn’t solve it,” said principal Pat Runstedler, who said he sees the throwback puzzle as more than just a game.
“The benefit is the satisfaction in completing a task that only five per cent of the population can actually do.”
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Gellatly has instructed close to 2,500 students on how to unlock the Rubik’s Cube, but he said he has a greater goal.
The Guinness World Record for the number of people solving the cube at the same time is 3,397. Gellatly said he hopes to crush that record by inviting all of his students to the Kitchener Auditorium on June 3.
“The goal is 5,000 people to beat that record at the Aud in Kitchener,” said Sherry.
In the meantime, Riley’s plan is to keep teaching his technique to students and maybe rewriting the basics.
“The three Rs are reading, writing and arithmetic, and it should be four Rs: reading, writing, arithmetic and Rubik’s cube,” he said.
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