2026 8th Grade STEAM Trip

Welcome to the official website for the Westfield 8th Grade STEAM Trip! This educational field trip, approved by the Westfield Board of Education, is organized by Kaleidoscope Adventures—a trusted tour company with over 30 years of experience in student group travel. Each trip emphasizes the core educational pillars of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM). Additionally, it provides an excellent opportunity for students to build independence in a well-structured group travel setting.

2025-2026 8th Grade School Year STEAM Trip Information:

Westfield Public Schools will host a combined STEAM Trip for Edison and Roosevelt students during the 2025-2026 school year, marking the 11th iteration of this trip! This opportunity is open to all students enrolled in 8th grade for the 2025-2026 school year.

8th Grade STEAM Trip Information:

The 8th Grade Trip will take place in Florida focusing on engineering and graphic design with a huge trip to Universal Studios featuring the new Epic Universe which will be open by that time!

Dates:

January 31 - February 3rd, 2026

** Dates may shift by 1-2 days depending on flight availability. However, the trip will be 2 weekend days and 2 school days. School days are excused absences since it is a school trip.

There are three steps to register:

CLICK HERE to fill out the interest form which puts you on the email list.

2. Trip Application Form - Available starting at the meetings below and due May 2nd, 2025. Please see Mr. Belline in EIS Room 205, Mrs. Sapichino in EIS Room 208, Mrs. Scheuerer in RIS Room 308, or Mr. Bausch in RIS Room 515.

3. Non Refundable Deposit - $50 Cash or Check made out to "Edison School Fund" (even if from RIS) - submitted at same time as Trip Application. This $50 goes toward your final cost.

For more information, consider attending any of the following meetings...

EIS Student Meeting - Students Only - Tuesday, April 1st from 2:50 to 3:15pm in the EIS Auditorium
RIS Student Meeting - Students Only - Wednesday, April 2nd from 2:50 to 3:15 in the RIS Media Center
Virtual Meeting - For Parents and Students - Thursday, April 3rd from 7:00 - 7:30pm. Link sent via email once Step #1 is complete.

** If there are more than 45 sign ups, then there will be a lottery to pick the spots. That will be completed about a week after application due date. Students selected will then confirm their spot with the first payment in the online portal. Oftentimes, people do drop and we will have a second lottery. **

Anticipated Price: Approximately $1995 per person

This is an all inclusive price...flights, hotel, chaperones, MEALS, all programs, TIPS, and everything else listed. Many camps or travel programs show one price but then participants need to pay extra for meals and tips. This is all built into our price.

8th Grade STEAM Trip Potential Itinerary:

Day #1
- Flight Newark to Orlando
- Trip to Disney Springs for a Cirque Du Soleil performance of "Drawn to Life."
- Dinner at Disney Springs
Day #2
- Visit Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Boat with the manatees!
- Trip to Kennedy Space Center which will include a variety of activities including video movies of history of space travel, launch pad tour, and various simulators.
- Lunch at Kennedy Space Center
Day #3
- Free Day at Epic Universe.
- Dinner in one of the Parks.
Day #4
- Take the Special FX Tour at Universal.
- Lunch in the park
- Catch a quick couple of ride at Islands of Adventure.
- Return Home on Flight Orlando to Newark.

Participant Acceptance:

A student must be in good academic standing to attend the trip which means:

Marking Period Grades of B (80%) or better for all classes for the first 3 marking periods of this current year.
Student must have a high level of attendance with no more than 12 absences this school year.
No significant disciplinary issues on record with the school specifically a physical or verbal threat toward a classmate or staff member especially if leading to a out of class suspension.

If your child has a viable excuse for a marking period grade below this cutoff, a viable excuse for many absences, or a viable excuse/learning experience for their disciplinary action, then your child may still be eligible for this trip. Please fill out the Eligibility Explanation Form with teacher signature and hand in with your application form prior to the due date. Students who ignore this form and are found to have grades below cutoff, absences above cutoff, or suspensions will automatically be placed last in the potential lottery without communication.

Hanging out at Velocicoaster at Universal Studios!

EIS Chaperones at Kennedy Space Center

At a college workshop on computing programming

Trip Chaperones and Organizer:

The trip is organized by Mr. Ryan Belline, an experienced math teacher at Edison Intermediate School having been a part of over 100 youth overnight trips. Besides being a middle school math teacher, Mr. Belline has 20 years of sleep away camp experience at Campus Kids Sleep Away Camp, including running the multi night tent camping trip option for middle school students and now runs those same trips with information here. Finally, Mr. Belline also coaches and organizes the Westfield Ultimate Frisbee program. The team takes 2-4 overnight trips each year to various places like Washington DC, Massachusetts, and more. Needless to say, Mr. Belline is very familiar with organizing middle school aged trips and is also First Aid/CPR certified.

Mrs. Brittany Sapichino has 12+ years of experience teaching French at both Roosevelt and Edison Schools. Mrs. Sapichino has been attending and organizing the STEAM Trip for many years now and is a seasoned travel leader.

Ms. Liz Scheuerer has nearly 30 years of experience teaching mathematics at Roosevelt Intermediate School. Ms. Scheuerer has experience chaperoning 8th grade students on spring break trips to Europe and as a senior counselor/teacher for middle school students at Fairview Lakes, NJ and TCNJ for the NJ Leadership Training Conference.

Mr. Andrew Bausch has nearly 20 years of experience teaching science at Roosevelt Intermediate school. Mr. Bausch has experience chaperoning 8th grade students on trips to NYC and 7th grade students to the Liberty Science Center and Museum of Natural History. He has also been a soccer coach at Westfield High School for the past 13 years and has experience taking players on overnight trips to upstate NY for pre-season training.

Other chaperones are selected based on the number of sign ups and will be Westfield Public School teachers and staff who are experienced and eager to work with overnight travel. Also, there will be a licensed school nurse on the trip with us who assists with first aid and administers daily medication.

Space Simulation at Space Camp

Perks of Westfield STEM Trip:

Only School Sponsored Middle School Overnight Trip!
- School certified Registered Nurse attending
- District Insurance and Best Practices
- High Level of Support including guidance counselors, school nurses, and school administration to handle any issues
All Inclusive Pricing - including meals and tips
- Most camp/travel programs anticipate tips or participants to carry cash for meals
- Food vouchers included in our trip
Most experienced chaperones
- Over 20 years of middle school travel experience

Catching animals with our tour guide in the Gulf of Mexico

Previous Trips:

This will be the 12th Westfield STEAM overnight field trip. Our first trip in 2017 was to Universal Studios in Orlando. 27 students attended and were able to go behind the scenes at the parks. In 2018, we traveled with 26 students to Walt Disney World in Orlando. Both years we also explored Kennedy Space Center, Mote Marine Laboratory, and Ringling College. In 2019, the trip grew massively and we took 63 students to Space Camp and Nashville! In 2022, over 70 EIS students visited Kennedy Space Center and Universal Studios! And, then in 2024, we started running two trips every year due to massive demand with well over 90 students attending each year.

To see press releases of previous trips, please click on the links below:

2025 Trips to Universal Studios and Space Camp
2024 Trips to Space Camp and Disney
2023 Trip to Tampa Mote Marine Laboratory
2022 Trip to Universal Studios and Kennedy Space Center
2019 Trip to Space Camp and Nashville
2018 Trip to Kennedy Space Center and Disney
2017 Trip to Kennedy Space Center and Universal Studios

At the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, FL

Testimonials from Parents

I thought everything was so well done. My daughter enjoyed everything, and actually said, "I'd like to go to college here (Ringling)." It was her first time showing such enthusiasm for her future. The Remind pictures were so fun to see, and the amount of adventures throughout the trip was fantastic. I was jealous that I could not go! Much more exciting than my overnight trip to DC with Edison back in the late 80's!
The exposure to real-world STEAM related orgs. that are directly related to the fields of _____’s interest- (She dreams of working in design for Disney parks). She loved the design school, and the behind-the-scenes tours at the parks. The whole trip was a life changing experience for ______ - fueling her drive to pursue her dream. We loved that she was safe, with friends, and so stimulated for her first trip away from home on her own.
I'm a huge proponent of travel in general. I try to foster a sense of curiosity, wonder and respect for cultures and the planet with my kids and there is no better way to do that than to experience things first hand. This trip was no exception and did not disappoint. It lived up to every expectation that we had.
I can't say enough good things about the trip. My child had an amazing time and we feel lucky that he was able to have this opportunity and experience. We thank you very much for organizing such a wonderful trip, with lasting memories.
Having our child attend this interesting and fun experience was amazing for our child’s sense of independence. We can already see the maturity and growth since returning. It is also a fantastic way to get to meet new students and teachers and form new bonds. We cannot recommend this experience enough and hope to travel with the group again next year!
Mr. Belline and the rest of the staff run an incredible STEM trip. My both of my kids have been on the trip and loved it. As a parent I felt my kids were in great hands. Highly recommend!

Testimonials from Students

I will remember a lot from Kennedy Space Center because I thought seeing the Atlantis Space Shuttle in person was really cool.
It was such a phenomenal experience and I would recommend this trip to anyone.
I will remember our trip to the aquarium the most because I learned a lot in the aquarium itself and I had a lot of fun catching animals in the brackish water and learning about them
I think Full Sail definitely highlighted how interesting video editing and filming is with a boom, camera, and green screen was! I think I now will consider video filming for movies or TV now as a possible career instead of something fun to watch or do on the side for fun. The video editing experience was definitely one of my favorite experiences on the trip.
The trip was so fun. It was educational but in a great hands on way, this trip consists of many once in a lifetime experiences which I will never forget. Being with friends, and being more connected with teachers are so fun. A great thing about the trip was being with students from the other school so we could get to know each other before high school
I had the best time!