Balloonist Inflates Student Learning
When students at Ralph Chandler Middle School say their teacher is full of hot air. They’re not kidding.
Math teacher Jennifer Keener owns a hot air balloon and will soon have her pilot’s license. Keener brought the balloon to school Tuesday for show and tell. Balloons are a unit in the school’s gateway to technology program.
“They have been doing a unit on hot air balloons and research on it. It is a way for them to visually see what they have been studying about. How it is inflated, how the heat makes it rise,“ Keener said.
Keener has been interested in flying since she was in middle school. She started saving money for her own balloon when she was a teenager.
“I love how it brings people together. I have been doing this since sixth grade. I started crewing for a hot air balloon. Meeting different people and sharing it with people is why I wanted to get a balloon. This is what I wanted to do when I got my license, take it places, educate kids on it, it is a fabulous hobby,” she said.
