By Luke Hladek
“3…2…1…WHOOO!”
Wheeling Country Day School (WCDS) is a unique place. Nestled in the Woodsdale neighborhood of Wheeling with the Ohio Valley foothills rising all around, the six-acre mini college campus teems with energy all year long. Kids and adults are outside every day, rain or shine, and “learn everywhere” has become a motto of sorts, especially these last two years. The campus is also used as a giant exhibition space throughout the year, with projects and productions staged both indoors and outdoors. Then on one special day each year, the whole community gathers for launch day.
An event that began as a fun side venture with the goal of providing aerial photography to supplement other projects has quickly become an annual signature moment at WCDS. Recently, launch day was voted the number two event of the school year by students, outranking many more traditional elementary moments like graduation and holiday parties. At first glance, a balloon release sounds more than a fitting activity for a sweet little elementary school to complete. We’ve all watched a balloon rise, after all, gently twirling in the wind as it becomes just a speck disappearing amongst the clouds. It’s tailor-made to catch a child’s eye. But a weather balloon is an entirely different spectacle. “Release” doesn’t exactly do it justice. It is a true launch, without a doubt. A gigantic balloon, nearly 10 feet in diameter when filled, feels as if it’s begging to be let go the entire time, and when the tether is finally cut, it sails straight up and above the open mouths of the crowd in what seems like an instant. It’s a surprisingly emotional moment, like watching an animal nursed back to health take its first steps returning to the wild. All the research, engineering, weather predictions and personal creativity are on display. It’s sink or swim, or rather, fall or fly.
“Each year on launch day, I find tears streaming down my face as I contemplate the innocence and brilliance of children,” Head of School Liz Hofreuter says, “I love our school. I love the culture of risk and curiosity. I love that the teachers trust the children and themselves to learn fearlessly in the face of potential failure.”
During the first year of the project, the school committed to giving students a chance, for better or worse, to take the lead. No one really knew what to expect, so everyone, students and teachers alike, learned together. That allowed for a genuine team effort as the class researched everything from the history of ballooning and space flight to worldwide helium reserves and weather patterns, along with all the legal issues associated with such an undertaking. Then came the testing phase. Teachers climbed on the gymnasium roof to calculate descent rates using various parachutes, cameras were placed in freezers to test lightweight insulators and GPS units were hidden around the campus to be found using only an app. Finally, materials were ordered, and a launch window was chosen, only for tragedy to strike. One of the fifth-graders, Josiah, passed away suddenly, and his family asked the class to launch the balloon following the funeral. From that moment on, the weather balloon became something new. His classmates renamed the project, JoJo I, as they seemed to understand before anyone it would live on well beyond the first year. They filled the balloon neck with small handwritten notes as a way to channel their grief and say goodbye to their friend from the edge of space.
In the six years that have followed, the project continues to evolve. Students are now broken into teams, with research and development, launch, recovery and safety groups dividing up duties and goals, making the focus each year entirely unique. There is even a public relations team tasked with promoting the event and documenting the process. The equipment has been upgraded, and the procedures have been refined. The data collection is much more robust, and the reading of that data has grown from basic reporting to true analysis. But the emotional weight continues to drive and inspire these classes from year to year. The students lean into the responsibilities of launching a balloon to the stratosphere and honoring someone many now never knew with tremendous maturity and perspective.
“Most fifth graders don’t get to do what we get to do, launching this balloon. I’m just really grateful for the opportunity,” says Lily, a public relations team member from JoJo VII.
This project has reinforced what it means to be a ten-year-old learner at WCDS. It gives students agency in their learning and ownership of an experience beyond that of nearly anything most fifth graders get to do. It also helps kids take chances and embrace unknown outcomes.
“This is the big fifth-grade project and our last deep dive before we graduate. This is the first time we’ve ever launched in the rain, so let’s see what happens!” explains Sophie, a launch team member from JoJoV.
It also changes the fundamental idea of science class. All the vocabulary and content knowledge truly become secondary to the act of doing. It’s immersive. The students embrace the curiosity of their classmates but challenge each other by asking hard questions. They argue over goals and discover problems before they’re asked to solve them. They feel all the materials, from the balloon to the line to the payload box and insulation. They unbox and test electronics instead of being handed charged, ready-to-click cameras. They invite guests and document the process and then smell the odd odor of a balloon popped at 100,000 feet. It’s a five-sense experience beyond that of any chapter in any textbook.
Then there is launch day, which is full of excitement, adrenaline and borderline panic as the crowd grows and the tension on the tether matches the butterflies in the bellies of the launch team. In the moments following the swelling cheers and high fives of another successful countdown, there is an extra-long hush that spreads across the crowd as they stand together, mouth agape, squinting at the sky. From that first tear-soaked launch to the latest one in 2021, each year, for one moment, an entire community is given a reason to look up.
About the Author
Luke Hladek is the Advancement Director and a project coordinator/teacher at Wheeling Country Day School. He has a master’s degree in education from West Liberty University and loves to tell a good story.
