Wonderful news for Seattle’s young dreamers: The Museum of Flight and Highline Public Schools are celebrating 15 years of a partnership that has turned thousands of fifth-graders into explorers of the skies and beyond.
Since the program began, more than 20,000 Highline students have enjoyed specially designed field trips to the museum, experiences shaped in collaboration with their own teachers to support classroom learning. Best of all, the visits come at no cost to participating schools, thanks to support from 4Culture.
This fall brings an exciting new chapter: Highline Goes to Space, a refreshed program co-designed by Highline teachers and Museum educators to match the district’s fifth-grade science curriculum. Students dive into the cosmos during a planetarium session and roam the Beyond the Blue Planet space galleries, asking questions and making observations like real scientists.
The district’s Director of PreK and Elementary Success, Dr. Tanisha Brandon-Felder, says the program gives students the chance to see new possibilities for themselves in STEM and beyond, calling it a clear example of what happens when schools center student needs with meaningful, hands-on experiences.
Classroom materials help students prepare before their visit and keep the learning going after they return home, connecting the magic of the museum with everyday lessons.
Fifteen years, twenty thousand students, and one shared mission: inspiring the next generation to reach for the stars. In Seattle, the sky is just the beginning.
Photo: Clemens Vasters (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
