Hey Everybody,

The 2025 Fall Break Trip to Japan is full, but I am excited to announce the trip for the 2026/2027 school year... HAWAII!

It has now become a tradition for Highlands Ranch High School to take its students on worldwide science and cultural based field studies.  The last 17 years I have taken our students to Japan, Iceland, Ecuador, the South Pacific and Hawaii.  I am excited to announce that I will be putting together a trip to Hawaii for fall break of 2026. 

Here are some of the other things that we will be doing while in Hawaii:

-Beach clean up along the south coast of the Big Island.  Learning about micro plastics and the impact on the ocean environment. (community service hours)

-Hiking and exploring the lava flows and volcanoes of Hawaii.

-Watching sunset and stargazing on the slopes of Mauna Kea.

-Snorkeling, checking out tide pools, and learning about marine environments.

-Exploring the rainforest and waterfalls of the island.

-Beach time on green, white, and black sand beaches.

Check out the promo video:-)

What is my motivation you might ask…it is to get students excited about and experience science.  There really is no other place that students can have such an amazing hands on experience in culture and in so many fields of science.  It is one thing to talk about volcanoes, but to actually see one erupting is a whole other experience!  I feel if we do this during our students years at Highlands Ranch High School, they have the potential to carry that excitement through the remaining years at Ranch and hopefully on to college. 

The 6 to 7 day trip is planned for Fall Break 2026 (10/10/2026 to 10/18/2026).  The exact dates are still being worked out.  Everything is included in the cost of the trip.  The only money students would have to bring to Hawaii is spending money and baggage fees. 

There is a lot of interest in these trips every year and there are ONLY 18 spots available.  So, you will want to jump on it fast to reserve your spot.  If we have more students sign up they will be put on a wait list.  To reserve your students spot there is a $300 registration fee.  I am still working out the cost of the trip, but it will be around $3900 to $3800.  Registration is based on a first come first serve basis.  Deposits can be made to the HRHS business office.

This trip is open to all HRHS students who will are currently in 9th, 10th and 11th grade for the 2025/2026 school year.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email me.

Mahalo,

Bob MacArthur

Earth Science, Geology, Astronomy, and Meteorology

Highlands Ranch High School

bgmacarthur@dcsdk12.org