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Rappahannock students, farmer break Guinness World Record

by | Jan 26, 2026

Students from last semester's seventh-grade farm-to-table class pose with shirts commemorating their world record, earned by helping Amissville farmer Jason Loris harvest the most peppers from a single plant. RCES hosted a presentation Friday celebrating the achievement. (Photo/Ireland Hayes)
Jason Loris with the Carolina Reaper plant that he grew on his farm in Amissville. The plant was then transported to RCES where students meticulously counted each pepper. (Photo/Ireland Hayes)
Farm-to-table teacher Kyle Wensel, Jason Loris and RCES principal and assistant principal Jaqui Lowe-Barton and Sean Slaney unveil the Guinness World Record plaque at Friday's presentation. (Photo/Ireland Hayes)

A class of farm-to-table students at Rappahannock County Elementary School (RCES) and a local vegetable grower are now world-record holders after harvesting nearly 900 hot chili peppers from one plant.

Jason Loris with the Carolina Reaper plant that he grew on his farm in Amissville. The plant was then transported to RCES where students meticulously counted each pepper. (Photo/Ireland Hayes)

The Guiness World Record honor was given to Jason Loris of Amissville and the seventh-grade class in October for the most peppers harvested from a single plant — 893. 

At a school presentation Friday, Kyle Wensel, farm-to-table teacher at RCES, said Loris approached him last semester about recruiting the students to help him count Carolina Reapers, one of the hottest peppers in the world, that he had grown.

Wensel loaded the plant into his truck bed, and brought it to the school where students meticulously clipped, sorted and counted the peppers with gloved hands, protecting themselves from chemical burns or hurting their eyes. 

“I looked at the pepper plant, and it was taller than I could reach. It was big, and it was full,” Wensel said. “The kids started breaking [the plant] down and counting, and then we recounted them, and then we recounted them, because we had to make sure the numbers were legit … This was a great opportunity for the kids. I think they really enjoyed it. “

Loris told the students about his journey growing record-breaking vegetables, explaining that through hard work, dedication, science and community support he has achieved multiple state and world records for his ginormous harvests, including watermelon, cantaloupe and butternut squash. 

“You guys are the only school in the world, anywhere in the world, that has this record, nobody else has it. So you guys made a big footprint in the state of Virginia and in Rappahannock County,” Loris told the students. “This is obviously not possible without y’all’s help and taking on this big count … so be very proud of yourself, pat yourself on the back, and we’re very, very excited for y’all.”

Holly Jenkins, Commit to be Fit coordinator at the schools, gave a special thank you to community partners in attendance, including school leadership, Virginia Cooperative Extension and financial backers of the farm-to-table program, PATH Foundation and  Headwaters Foundation.

 

 

Farm-to-table teacher Kyle Wensel, Jason Loris and RCES principal and assistant principal Jaqui Lowe-Barton and Sean Slaney unveil the Guinness World Record plaque at Friday’s presentation. (Photo/Ireland Hayes)

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Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner.
    Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.
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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.