The Lifting Legends launch balloons

ELKHART — Students from West Side, East Side, South Side and Ox Bow elementary schools launched two weather balloons Friday morning outside Concord High School, capping five months of intricate planning and teamwork.

The project culminated with much anticipation and excitement; some students reportedly could not sleep the night before.

“It was very interesting to watch it go up through the clouds and see it disappear,” said Addy Gerig, a fourth-grade student at Concord East Side Elementary.

Elizabeth King, High Ability teacher at Ox Bow Elementary, said the goal was to see how far the balloons would go. By late morning one of the balloons had been reported as landing in Coldwater, Michigan, as predicted by the students. The other had not yet been accounted for.

The students also chose some experiments to send up with the weather balloons. Some of the items being sent up included paint, small Orbeez gel balls, freeze-dried candy and chocolate.

“It was exciting seeing all of the work that we’ve done pay off because it was successful,” said A.J. Thomas, a fourth-grade student at Concord Ox Bow.

The balloons started to be filled around 9:40 a.m. The helium tanks were provided by Purity Gas located in the Concord district.

King said they tried to make sure they had enough helium in both balloons prior to launch.

“It was a little bit tricky to do that with one helium tank,” King said. “So, that’s why that whole process took a little bit longer.”

Aside from the helium, the students and teachers were well prepared for the launch. The school district paid for the balloons. The money for the T-shirts – worn by the students and teachers with the team’s name, “The Lifting Legends,” etched across the front side – were donated to the school.

This was the closest in time both weather balloons were launched. Last year, the balloons were launched from the same place but about 20 minutes apart. One balloon ended up an hour away from Concord High School and other balloon landed in Lake Erie.

This year, they made sure the balloons had similar amounts of helium and were launched within five minutes apart.

“We’ll see what happens this year if they end up landing at a location that’s closer to each other,” King said. “Each year, we try something a little bit different and try to adjust for the next year.”

King praised the students for the job well done. She said it was a big deal for 10- and 11-year-olds to take on a project like this.

“They all had jobs that they practiced,” King said. “They knew what to do. They knew the different parts ... that they were sending up.”