To commemorate the recent Ascension Thursday, and with parishioners and pastor Father Francis Baransky looking on, the students of St. Joseph Regional Academy in Jim Thorpe released dozens of balloons with notes attached to them and thrilled as they watched them drift "up into the Heavens".

While the rising balloons are symbolic of Jesus Ascending to Heaven, the release was also a very colorful event and the students, and for that matter the adults too, loved to watch it.The attached notes were suspended from each balloon by a long thin ribbon and they were destined to drift aimlessly with the wind.The notes had no personal information on them about the individual students releasing them.They contained only a line of text such as a short prayer and the name and address of St. Joseph Regional Academy so that they can be returned to the school to let the students know how far their messages have traveled.