ABOVE: Hot air balloon pilot Donna Carlton-Vish addresses the majority of the First Baptist Christian School student body; while inside a wind blown balloon on the floor of the school gymnasium.
Upon the beginning of a new school week on Monday morning (May 19th), the entire First Baptist Christian School student body (some older students taking finals arrived later) poured into the school gymnasium to see a hot air balloon up close. The ambassador class for this year’s Balloons Over Vermilion are the third graders (taught by Jenna Picray), fourth graders (Amber Seest), and fifth graders (Andrea Byram) at First Baptist. But Monday’s traditional ballooning lesson for the ambassador class by BOV pilots was opened up to the entire school.
Each grade level posed for a fun picture after marching into the balloon.
From outside the balloon, while the demonstration by Donna Carlton-Vish was going on, Balloons Over Vermilion’s Carly Goodwin said it was great to have everyone involved, and have everyone learning.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: Over 100 students in there this morning, and they all seem to be loving learning about balloons from Donna Jean. So we’ve got a whole bunch of students getting to learn a lot about hot air ballooning.
(First Picture) Donna Carlton-Vish addresses First Baptist Christian School students before they enter the balloon. (2nd Picture) Each grade level enjoyed hitting the inside of the balloon upon entering. (3rd Picture) The First Baptist Christian School student body from the back of the balloon.
First Baptist Christian School principal Ken Seest says it’s been really special watching the third, fourth, and fifth grade host classes come alive; with their ambassador duties for this year’s BOV.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: They’re loving this. They’ve hit the area of creating their posters; they’re meeting new people; they’re excited about representing Danville here. So it’s been a great experience for them to see what’s going on with Balloons Over Vermilion; what all is involved in that.
Balloons Over Vermilion for 2025 will be Friday, July 11th and Saturday, July 12th at Vermilion Regional Airport.
