The STEMITL project is an interdisciplinary collaboration between a Southeastern University's middle grades education department and local PDS partner school districts incorporating six full-day immersive projects for seventh-grade students. During the 2016-2017 academic year, seventh-grade students were brought to the university's newly constructed STEAM Center where middle grades practicum students implemented day-long interdisciplinary lessons co-designed by faculty and teacher candidates. Lessons incorporated social studies, science, mathematics, and literacy around a central theme of water pollution in China. The practicum student teachers (PSTs) fully executed the STEMITL curricula three times per semester allowing for hands-on application of lesson design and implementation as well as real-world teaching experience with integrated, interdisciplinary learning. Further, PSTs and middle school students collaborated with secondary school students and teachers in a partner school in Hong Kong via online communication, videos, and data sharing. Lessons learned are shared.