Paul Cunningham is pictured with his 37-inch tower constructed in Darryl Mallanda’s art class. Cunningham’s tower was tied for the tallest in the three-grade contest. Submitted photo

Fletcher Elementary School arts students not only flexed their creative muscles but also became amateur architects by participating in art teacher Darryl Mallanda’s tall tower contest to determine who could create the tallest tower using Styrofoam beans and toothpicks.

Each student has 30 to 40 minutes to complete their tower and Mallanda tracked the top three measurements for each grade level and recognized first, second and third places for each grade level and the over-all highest measurement in the school, which ended in a tie, with both fourth grader Paul Cunningham and third grader, Camryn Storms, having 37-inch towers.

As part of the contest, Mallanda covers building techniques and different tower structures in their everyday world such as power lines, radio towers, fire towers and some more popular structures like the Eiffel Tower. Students learn how balance, form, composition, line and shape can influence their planning and strategy in construction. Students also see how to use simple, repurposed tools to create and use their problem-solving skills.

Winners were:

Fourth Grade: Paul Cunningham, first place; Kameron Milne, second place; Chase Bonta and Nicholas Melendez, third place.

Third Grade: Camryn Storms, first place; Logan Smith, second place; David Johnson and McKenzie Markle, third place.

Second Grade: Kaelyn Martin, first place; Daniel Graham, second place; Madilyn Gordon, third place.

First Grade: Alyanna Stiverson, first place; Raymond Carson, second place; Siena Hobbs, third place. Honorable mention — Ryan Derrenbacher, kindergarten.