Everett teacher goes viral with apple-splitting trick

Sean Reich admits the trick is something he’s been teaching friends and other teachers for years.

EVERETT, Washington – An Everett teacher has received praise from his students, the internet, and the Ellen Show for a unique talent his father taught him.

Sean Reich teaches second grade at Penny Creek Elementary School. He said his father taught him an unusual trick of tearing an apple in half with his bare hands.

“I just remember him grabbing an apple and then there were two,” he recalls.

Reich admits the trick is something he has been teaching friends and other teachers for years and never expected it to be the reason he gained 15 minutes of fame.

“My sister and I wanted to go viral this summer and she’s younger than me so we thought we should try TikTok,” he said.

Reich has uploaded various videos of his children and other amusing endeavors, but nothing has made waves. Until he decided to test the water with his annual apple ripping trick that keeps impressing his students.

“It found more adults were overwhelmed by the trick, and a few days after I shared it on TikTok, I was contacted by a producer from Ellen,” he said.

Reich was suddenly on a plane to Hollywood to appear on the Ellen Show. Reich returned home a hero with a video of his magical exchange with Ellen.

The trick is easy to explain, but not necessarily easy.

“Apples are grainy, and if you find them and grab them just right, you can crack them open wide. It’s like a hinge movement, ”said Reich.

Most of his teaching team learned the trick.

The trick and tech can be seen on his now booming TikTok channel. Thousands of shares and nearly 3 million likes later, Reich said this whole social experiment confirmed what he had put into teaching.

“I like to hear the ah-ha moment or like the woah, that’s really something I’ve never seen before,” he said.