KITCHENER -- Solving the world one turn at a time—that's the goal of a 13-year-old boy who's teaching hundreds of kids to solve the Rubik's Cube.
Riley Gellatly is hoping to get 5,000 kids involved in an attempt to break a world record.
But that's not all he's hoping to accomplish by teaching them to solve a complex puzzle that stumps so many.
"When I first solved the Rubik's Cube I had an amazing feeling of accomplishment," he says.
He first solved the puzzle two years ago when his mom bribed him to keep him occupied.
The incentive: $50.
"Three days after, after having 20-plus hours on the computer, I finally had the cube solved, and she was like, 'Oh my gosh I thought you were going to take two weeks,'" he remembers.
"I thought, 'I want every single other kid to feel this.'"
So the boy founded Cuber's Corner, recruiting a small army of volunteers.
Now, the home-schooled teen and his crews visit classrooms around Waterloo Region.
"It was frustrating but at the same time, it was like you wanted to solve it, so you kept going and going," says Grade 8 student Avery Arand.
Teachers are seeing the benefits, too.
"It's crazy addictive, and number two, it's crazy frustrating, and so the resilience that it takes for the kids to get where they got, that's a transferrable skill," says Grade 8 teacher Ron Flanagan.
With thousands of kids taught, Riley is going for the world record for the most kids solving the Rubik's Cube at the same time.
The current record is 3,397—Riley hopes to get 5,000 on board for the attempt.
He'll try to smash that record on June 3 at the Kitchener Aud.
