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What if your next school STEM excursion involved New York, Washington, Disney and Kennedy Space Center?
In Episode 99 of the Bridge Building Podcast, Stephen Anderson speaks with Shaun Lane from Hale School in Perth about an extraordinary international STEM experience his Technology department has developed for students.
Every two years, the school takes a group of students to the United States for a bespoke STEM tour. The 2026 trip will see 32 students and four staff travel through New York, Washington, Orlando and Titusville over two weeks.
Along the way, students explore aviation and space museums, the Smithsonian institutions, STEM programs at Disney and Universal, universities and, finally, Kennedy Space Center, where they undertake an immersive international program including astronaut training and simulated space missions.
Shaun also shares some unforgettable moments from previous tours — including arriving in Orlando alongside a hurricane and, through some extraordinary timing, witnessing a SpaceX rocket launch and the boosters returning to Earth.
But this episode isn't simply about an incredible school trip.
Shaun explains how Hale moved away from an organised tour and began designing its own program. The teachers develop the itinerary themselves and then work with a travel company to manage flights, accommodation and other logistics.
The conversation explores costs, free and low-cost STEM opportunities, working with universities, accessing educational programs at major attractions and how schools could build a smaller or less expensive version of the experience.
For teachers who have ever wondered whether an ambitious international STEM experience is actually possible, this episode might have you asking a different question:
Why couldn't we do it?
