FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — On Thursday, Carroll Middle School students took to the skies in the form of a paper airplane contest to compete for prizes.

Carroll Middle School Principal Robby Goodman organized the contest by sending a note to students via a paper airplane that challenged students to create paper airplanes that could fly farther than his.

“I threw [the note] in the middle of their class with a paper airplane and told them today was the day to challenge me,” Goodman said.

In the end, Goodman said several students rose to the challenge and designed paper airplanes that beat him.

The students received small balsa wood airplanes as a reward for competing in the contest.

Goodman said he wanted to create an event that would allow the students to have fun and also build relationships between students and staff.

“We spend a lot of time making sure all of our students feel connected and valued,” Goodman said.

Due to requests from students, Goodman will make the paper airplane contest an annual tradition at Carroll Middle School, and he plans to study optimal paper airplane designs to prepare for next year’s contest.