I’m “Pilot Scott” and today I got to take the Kellogg’s Ballooning Team to Maple Grove Elementary School in Boise, Idaho. We had a “Gr-r-reat” day!

After we arrived at the school and checked in at the office with Principal Glenn Aguiar we drove the Tony Support Truck to the playground and unloaded the “Little Tony” hot air balloon. The crew hooked up the basket and pulled out the envelope and got it all ready to go. Before we fill the balloon with air (inflate) we spread it out on the grass.

Once we filled the balloon with air, Miss Laurie took a lucky Third Grade Student inside the balloon for a look around … not a chance very many kids get to have… When they came out, I turned on the burner and heated the air we trapped inside the balloon and up, up and up the balloon came. (“I thought it was VERY cool!”)

Inside the basket, I had lots of help from my special co-pilots, it was a bunch of fun for me to have them on-board, sharing my morning.

Once everything was organized in the basket, all the kids got to walk by and look up and inside “Little Tony”

I think everyone liked doing that, but a few kids jumped when we turned on the fire that heats the balloon.

After we finished, and everyone got a chance to get close to the balloon, we let the air out and started to pack our equipment away. We couldn’t have done it without the help of our Maple Grove Ground Crew from Mrs Wolfe’s 6^th Grade Class.

These kids were fantastic helpers and I’m pretty sure we’d still be out on that playground if they hadn’t been there. They did such a “Gr-r-reat” job that each of them got a special hat from our boss, Tony The Tiger.

Once the balloon was packed up, we got to go inside Maple Grove Elementary and see all the Kids again for an assembly. We got a chance to talk about many fun and interesting things. I taught them some French words, reminded them how important it is to eat a good breakfast each and every day and even talked about the history of balloons and aviation.

It was fun to go to Maple Grove School. All the members of the balloon team were very impressed with how well behaved the kids were. (And how smart they were too !) I hope the kids enjoyed it as much as we did.

School Facts:

Maple Grove Elementary School

Boise, Idaho

“The Bears”

600 Students

Maple Grove School has a “Gr-r-reat” Chess Club.