HAVEN, Kan. — A small group of Haven High School students set to participate in the national LifeSmarts competition probably learned a few lessons on dealing with unexpected circumstances.

James Budge, Nathan Wells, Hayden Peirce, Payton Paramore and Cory Miller were part of the state champion Haven High LifeSmarts team. The group was on its way to Orlando, Florida, but a number of twists and turns prevented them from making it to the competition.

According to teacher Vicki Galloway, the group was late getting out of Wichita because of storms in Dallas. Once the students got to Dallas, the weather worsened. After 12 hours in the airport, their flight was canceled.

After getting a hotel around midnight, the group returned to the airport Sunday morning. However, the flight kept getting put off until it was canceled Sunday afternoon. By then, it was too late to get to Orlando.

The students flew to Tulsa where they spent the night and rented a car. They drove home Monday.

Galloway says the boys were great sports about the whole trip and entertained themselves in the airport by riding the tram, escalator, talking to people, eating and shopping.