Students from the MHS extension at Innovation Campus will be going on a trip to Japan in 2026, where they will be doing various STEM and cultural activities, leadership teacher Sejee Kim said.
Japan is known for having some of the most innovative STEM exhibits and exhibitions and labs, Kim said.
“There’s interactive exhibits at the Maglev Exhibition Center, like the bullet trains and stuff that they have, so kids can actually see how those trains work and operate,” Kim said. “In other labs, they get to see and experience looking at high-tech robots and moving them around.”
The students have a packed itinerary full of museums, exhibitions, and labs, Kim said.
“It’s a lot of STEM institutions, but kids are also excited to do the Japanese tea ceremony and visit some of the neighborhoods,” Kim said.
The Innovation Campus has fundraised about $40,000 for the trip, but there are nearly 100 students going, so the total cost is about $200,000, sophomore Josiah Rosa said. Each person has to pay about $2,000-3,000, he added.
“We are still trying to lower the cost,” Rosa said. “We have to pay all the money by December 16.”
$20,000 of the $35,000 raised came from the United States-Japan Foundation, a non-profit that gives money to special programs to increase U.S. and Japan relations, Kim said.
“I helped them (students) with the application, but it was majority student-driven, and that’s how we were able to get $20,000 from there,” Kim said.
The idea for the trip to Japan first came about when Kim spoke to a teacher from another school about a similar trip, Kim said. She then proposed the trip at Innovation Campus for the first group of students that attended the school when it first opened, she added.
“My biggest hope is that students who don’t think that engineering or STEM is for them will see these kinds of exhibits and realize that it is something they could do or aspire to be,” Kim said.
Another reason the trip is international is that a lot of students at the Innovation Campus have not had the opportunity to travel internationally, Kim said.
“For some of these kids, it’s going to be the first time they actually do get to travel internationally, so I wanted to expand people’s opportunities and experiences,” Kim said.
The students do have to pay for a lot of the costs on their own, even with the large amount of money raised through fundraising, Kim said.
“There are a couple of students who are in our target demographic, like low income, that have gotten a lot more donated for them in particular,” Kim said.
The students have held many fundraising events, Rosa said.
”We had our own back-to-school night at Innovation,” Rosa said. “We had a little game night thing last year. We’ve also had people making merch for the school.”
Kim had a lot of input designing the trip and ensuring it wouldn’t be too long, while still providing enough educational value to the students, she said.
“Originally, they had a bit more cultural activities on here (the itinerary), but I wanted to cut some of that out so there’s a bigger STEM focus,” Kim said. “Also, the inclusion of Tokyo Disney – we did add that.”
Planning the trip was a huge undertaking, Kim said.
“I do want to have other trips for the newer students,” Kim said. “But I’m not sure about international.”
Innovation is such a small school that teachers are asked to lean in and support students in any way they can, math teacher Mimi Nguyen said.
“Although I don’t have a specific capacity, I still do it (provide further support) to help our students have a good time at this campus and make sure that they can fulfill their dreams and their goals,” Nguyen said.
