Hundreds of students gathered inside the courtyard of Athens High School early Thursday morning to eagerly watch the release of a massive weather balloon that was well worth the months of preparation and hard work from two of their classmates.

Seniors Tyler Gross and Ian Gilman unexpectedly came together for their STEM lab class and quickly decided to honor the 10-year anniversary of their school’s first weather balloon release by doing it again — but better, according to the two.

“I remember back in our freshmen year we watched a video of the first release, and I thought it would be something really cool to bring back,” Gilman said. “We challenged ourselves to make it better than the one 10 years ago, and it took a lot of work from all the way back in February to make sure we achieved that.”

Michael May, Athens’ engineering teacher, was the instructor a decade ago for the four engineering students who decided to release the first balloon. May noted that what felt like a far-fetched idea back then, still seemed just as unbelievable when they began to release it on Thursday.

“I was beyond excited when they said they would take the challenge and bring back the ‘Reaching New Heights’ project,” May said. “To see this many kids show up as well added to the pressure, but made it that much more enjoyable to watch.”

Gross and Gillman were also wary of the crowd of their peers surrounding them in the courtyard, but they said they were too focused on getting the balloon in the air to really be affected by the hundreds of eyes on them.

“It was really nerve-wracking at first, but once we started working to make sure nothing messes up I think we settled in pretty well,” Gillman said. “I thought nobody was going to show up at first, but then it was like the whole school showed up.”

The support from their classmates pushed them on Thursday, but it is not what fueled them for the months of work prior. May gave a lot of that credit to the fortitude of his two students, and the work Gross and Gilman did behind the scenes that led to a successful launch on.

“Tyler actually designed the data acquisition device and the GPS transmission device that is in the payload on the balloon,” May said. “We have three Go-Pros in the payload as well, so we’ll be able to get some good footage and a lot of good data.”

The balloon, which entered the stratosphere after reaching 100,000 feet in the air, was able to collect valuable data on the altitude, temperature and humidity in the area. The weather balloon came down later in the day on Thursday evening, creating more than just a spectacle to watch – for the two Athens’ seniors it’s a lifetime memory they will not soon forget.

Watch for a video of the launch on enewscourier.com.