Up in the air

It was a bright, sunny day at Liberty Park Middle School when sixth-grade teachers and students gathered on the field to watch a weather balloon launch into the stratosphere.

LPMS teachers Diane Calhoun, Nicole Slowik and Desiree Spencer along with several students launched the balloon April 30 as the culmination of an educational experience that began in the fall.

Spencer explained that preparations began in the fall after Spencer, Linda Rummell and Lisa Williams wrote and were awarded s Vestavia Hills City Schools Foundation Grant of $1,630 for a weather balloon.

Trained meteorology professionals came to the school to teach the students about weather and how it is studied, and Scott Martin of the Alabama Weather Blog was on-hand the day of the launch to assist.

Several students, Wyatt Williams, Armari Spencer, Braeden Krablin and Charlton Moreland, also assisted with the launch by monitoring the wind speed with an anemometer, testing the flight computer, Go Pro Camera and GPS tracker and helping inflate the balloon with helium.

After reviewing the data collected by the computer on board the balloon, Spencer said the team concluded that the balloon reached an altitude of 30,949 meters or 19 miles and a low temperature of -10.3 degree Celsius. The total flight time was 3 hours and 32 minutes, and the equipment was recovered by the teachers and parent volunteers.