The five Wewa Middle School students are members of the school's "Odyssey of the Mind" team. The team takes on the challenge of creative problem solving and competes against other students all over the world.

This year's problem involved building a vehicle, then guiding it to complete four sports-related tasks. The Wewa vehicle plays soccer, tennis, shuffleboard, and football.

The students placed first at the regional level and fifth at state, but they received the Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award, the highest honor in the state contest which automatically qualifies them for the world competition.

"They were surprised because we're just Wewa and everyone thinks small town, small brain. But I think they were excited about it and just proud of us," said Doni Lanier, a team member.

"I thought at first we weren't going to be able to do it and we were going to have to forfeit, but we started working hard and got the problem solved," said Alexa Allison, a team member.

The world competition will take place at the University of Maryland at the end of this month. The students still need to raise approximately $6,000 to pay for their trip.

Contributions can be made by calling 850-639-6840.