by Kara Benoit

To the amazement of staff and students a blanket of rainbow fabric rose to create a hot air blown right out side of Oakdale High School! The balloon was set up for demonstration in the empty field across from Oakdale High School on April 29 during fourth block. The Childhood Development class was responsible for the spectacle. A group of girls in the class decided to bring the weekly theme “Up in the Air” out of the lesson books and into real life. Students of all ages learned how a balloon is set up and how it flies. Everyone there also enjoyed the unusual diversion from the regular schedule.

The Childhood Development group spent the entire class on the phone with the Friendship Hot Air Balloon Company to arrange this demonstration of the balloon, after checking with five other hot air balloon companies. Bailey Kehoe, a member of the Childhood Development group said, “It was cool to see how big the balloon was in person.”

The preschoolers weren’t the only ones that learned from the hot air balloon; at least six high school classes ended up sharing in the experience. The group even got a first hand experience with setting up a balloon with the crew of Friendship Hot Air Balloon Company. The girls from Childhood Development group helped Ron Banerick, captain of the balloon, lay out the balloon itself. When the balloon was inflated with a noisy fan, Senior Daniel Cardenas and Crew Chief Scott Hodgdon held on to a rope attached to the top of the balloon and tried to wrangle the balloon in so it didn’t get out of control.

“The students were absolutely helpful.” said Banerick.

Even though the experience was originally for the preschoolers, children of all ages had fun with it.