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| Photo credit: One of my amazing colleagues who was NOT stuck in the middle of the crowd like me! |
"And God said: 'This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
"'I set My RAINBOW in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the RAINBOW shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The RAINBOW shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.' ” (Genesis 9:12-16, NKJV throughout)Yesterday was the last day of classes for the beloved seniors at my school. Today is their last day to be on campus (other than for graduation activities) and I can hardly believe that the year is really drawing to a close and they won't be here anymore. I don't know what it is about this particular group of seniors but I completely adore so many of them. They have been the MOST creative, the MOST energetic, and the MOST FUN of all classes I have had so far. While teachers shouldn't (but certainly do) play favorites, some of my most favorite students ever have been members of this class. That being said? It was a rather monumental day to partake in and I've spent months and weeks working on the very event you see pictured above.
You see, yesterday at my school, we did something that I have affectionately named "RoyGBiv Day." As far as I can tell (and as far as what Google has told me) a day like this doesn't exist but that didn't stop me from dreaming and scheming of a way (with a "partner-in-crime" graduating senior) to orchestrate a 500+ balloon release/launch with balloons of the whole rainbow spectrum.
This particular senior is a VERY advanced art student who has exhausted the ranks of the art program here (both visual and performing) and while I've never actually had him in a class of mine, I have managed to work pretty close with him on a number of different occasions so much that even my (almost) four year-old daughter calls him "Mr. Treasure." (Not his name but her mispronounciation is so close and CUTE because I do think he is the kind of student that is just that special.)
While I normally never show pictures of my students on here in order to keep it about the art, I'm going to go ahead and show you two pictures of him: one where you can see him "in action" of his presentation before the launch and the other one at the epicenter of the launch itself only moments before the balloons were released.
While it might be tiresome for you to read how blessed I feel by having this job and working with the amazing students I do every single day, it is the absolutely TRUTH. It is SUCH an amazing blessing and I am thankful every single day to not just have a job in the first place but one that allows me all that it does. And ultimately? That's what RoyGBiv day was kind of about to begin with. Definitely my student (probably one of the few who could pull something like this off) was majorly responsible for pulling it all off the way he did by doing things like getting over 20 students plus faculty members (myself included) here to school at 5am to inflate the over 500 balloons that we needed in order to make this work...
Wish I had some video footage to share with you to help better illustrate (and punctuate) how amazing it was to behold such a sight as all of those balloons in all of their rainbow glory floating up to the sky and stretching farther and farther but I don't. (I do still photography and not motion picture.) Just trust that it was AMAZING and if you ever have the opportunity to participate in a balloon launch? It will be an incredibly blessing.
What a beautiful, inspirational event! Yes, we need an official "RoyGBiv Day"! I hope you don't mind if I "copy" this idea and use it next year in my own school. I noticed too, that you didn't have strings on the balloons when they were launched, which is a good thing, considering how they can get tangled in power wires, etc. What a great way to end the school year.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I know how you feel about seeing the students graduate. I teach K-8 and having them leave me after 9 years is difficult. I'm the only teacher who sees them each year for those 9 years, so it's a real tear-jerker for me at promotion exercises.
Keep up the great work you do at your school. I appreciate your blog. Cynthia S.
Please "steal" this idea from me!!! I would love if this idea became viral so more people would do it because there really isn't any other day that I know of that celebrates visual art like this and there needs to be!!! You are correct noting the lack of strings. We used these plastic circular clips with strings that were slid on the balloons (above the knots) but when the students picked up their balloons for release, they were given very specific instructions to hold the balloon by the knot and release it that way. In terms of environmental friendliness, my student who spearheaded this did lots of research on the biodegradability of the balloons and we even checked with the FAA (because the school is actually close enough to a major international airport) so all of the "bases" were covered before we did this. It was DEFINITELY an awesome way to cap off the school year and it went so well in fact that the administration has already said they would be fully supportive of making this an every single year thing to happen!!! Thanks for leaving such an encouraging comment. :)
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