A group of Kaleidoscope students at Armuchee Elementary School have been busy every Saturday morning recently reciting lines from a play and slinging small projectiles around a classroom in preparation for a statewide competition called Odyssey of the Mind.

“It’s a competition to create creative thinking in the students,” explained Jaki Day, Kaleidoscope teacher at the school. The Kaleidoscope program is the county’s designation for its gifted program.

Two groups of seven students will complete against others from across the state in Kennesaw on March 6. Each group is given a “problem” that requires creative problem-solving skills. They will be judged not only on their creativity, but on how well they work together.

One group was tasked with writing and performing a play in which one food item accuses another of being unhealthy. The kids were not allowed to have any outside influence from adults, so from start to finish the play is their very own creation.

The other group has to create a series of flying objects that can perform a list of tasks, such as taking off, landing, flying in a straight line and rotating a target.

They have already designed a few paper airplanes and other projectiles to meet the tasks, but a few of the requirements are proving a bit more tricky.

Armuchee is the first school in the county to participate in the Odyssey of the Mind competition, but Day said her students are basically piloting the program to see how it works and other schools will likely compete in the future.

“We’re hoping everyone will catch the bug,” she said.