Children turn paper into flights of fancy

Winners

Most of the people who visit McCarran International Airport do not think about the intricate designs that keep their airplanes in flight.

But a group of middle school students recently studied those designs to create works of art every preteen and former preteen can appreciate: the most aerodynamic paper airplanes possible.

Paper airplanes have been annoying teachers for years, but now they are making them proud as their students are honored with making the best ones in Clark County.

Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects and the Clark County Department of Aviation sponsored a paper airplane competition that will result in the winners' airplanes being used in a permanent display at the new D gates at McCarran.

The competition was open to all middle school students, but was limited to three students per teacher from every school. The prize: up to $3,000 for equipment to each of the 15 schools that participated.

The planes were judged on their creative and aesthetically pleasing design, distance flown and the amount of time they could stay in the air. More than 130 students competed.

The 12 winning students and their teachers were honored Wednesday night for their designs. The students' paper airplanes will be enlarged out of metal to about three or four feet a piece and will be incorporated into a large mobile that will be positioned under a skylight in the new gate area.

"This is a really fun project to have children of the community involved in the construction of the airport," Randall Walker, director of the Clark County Department of Aviation, said. "This adds a local element to the airport because 88 percent of the people that use this airport don't live here. They don't see that we have a community here. This lets us show off a little bit to the millions of visitors that come here."

Construction of the new wing of the D gates is scheduled to begin next year and should be completed by spring 2004, Robin Stark, executive assistant at Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects, said. Most of the children will be in high school when the gates are open to the public.

Walker wants to get the message out to visitors that Las Vegas is more than just casinos and gaming, that there are families that live and contribute to their communities here. He said the airport decided to work with students to create the artwork after the success of a 1998 project in which fourth graders designed 16 tile walls for the D gate concourse.

"This is going to be really cool because every time you come to the airport you would get to see your creation," Josh Gray, a winner from Burkholder Middle School, said. "It is going to be fun to see something you made in such a big place. It is going to be there forever."

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