PAPER AIRPLANES: LUTHERAN STUDENTS TURN CAPER INTO COMPETITION

On any other day, students at Trinity Lutheran School would have been headed to the principal's office after throwing paper airplanes out of a third-floor window.

But Tuesday students competed in the first-ever paper airplane competition. The friendly competition was part of the school's celebration of National Lutheran Schools Week.

The theme is "Soaring with the Spirit," explained eighth-graders Sarah Muench and Shannon Fee.

"We're having lots of fun," said Fee, as she prepared for the competition.

Teachers at the school took advantage of the planned event to teach a few lessons on aerodynamics.

Before the contest, students sat nervously in the hallway contemplating the merits of their airplane designs.

Muench's plane was quite simple: a flat piece of paper with two folds, one up and one down.

Aharon Reed said his was modeled after a stealth bomber. "It does loops and spins and works pretty well."

Nathan Tenholder's plane looked very different, sort of like a paper accordion with a tail. "It's like a parachute," Tenholder explained. "It catches the air and hopefully will fly longer."

Students competed for distance, duration or aerobatics.

Terry Sexton pressed the creases into his airplane again and again before the flight. "I'm competing in distance," he said. "This is really small and thin, like a dart. It should go a long way."

Seventh-grader Emily McElreath also had an airplane shaped like a combination dart and shuttlecock. The nose was stapled and taped. "I made it this way because I thought it looked cool," she said. "But I think it will fly well also."

The contestants tossed their airplanes out of the window while the rest of the students cheered from the ground. Winners were determined with a minimum of measuring. But everyone got a cheer.

Trinity principal Wes Wrucke looked relieved when the escapade ended. Truth be told, he was planning next year's paper airplane contest. He's thinking of getting in on the fun.

"I think I'll enter a plane and see who can beat the principal," Wrucke said.