Learning Unboxed

Georgia O'Keeffe is known as the mother of American modernism, but many people don’t know that O'Keeffe was also an educator with a passion for giving back to her community. That’s why the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Sante Fe, New Mexico, provides free educational programs and outreach to youth free of charge — and they’re doing some spectacular things both in their programs and in the...

Today we’re talking about a critical piece of the educational landscape that we haven’t really touched on in previous episodes: how university faculty can leverage their expertise to craft programming that gives back to students and the local community (and, inversely, how teachers can bring effective college programs and faculty into their classrooms). And our guest today has been bridging that g...

BoSTEM is a collaborative effort throughout the City of Boston that aims to ensure that every middle-school student in Boston Public Schools has access to high-quality STEM learning opportunities. Our guests today represent the two organizations that partnered up to start BoSTEM — Julia Kilgore of Boston After School and Beyond and Joe Rosenbaum of United Way — and there’s a lot that just about ev...

There’s no state in our nation that doesn't have some type of transportation issue that they are wrestling with right now. It's a global issue, especially at the rate and pace of change of technology. And there is an amazing opportunity for schools and students to be part of the conversation about these various transportation issues. So, today, we’re talking to someone who is out there, ev...

Have you ever heard a kid ask, “But how will I use this in the real world?” Maybe you even asked that question yourself back in the day? This disconnect creates disengagement for a lot of kids, but that’s just the way these systems were designed — and that’s a big part of the broken system that needs to be changed. Luckily, there are amazing teachers like Angela Forino out there, a third-grade tea...

We are once again on the road this week, this time in Boston, Massachusetts with Marty Klein, president of Martin Klein Consulting. You will find that part of Marty's journey was taking his scientific work and providing an opportunity for public outreach and engagement, taking the real-world science and engineering he's doing and make it relevant to young people. To learn more, visit: past...

On today’s episode of Learning Unboxed we are sharing the story of Calvin Mires and his journey in pursuing his passion: education. We talk about what’s possible, the amazing opportunities out there, and the importance of connection. Calvin shares his experiences in teaching educators and facilitating human growth in innovative and unexpected ways.     Calvin Mires, currently works as Research Ass...

On Learning Unboxed, we like to share case studies of the projects and programs that are revolutionizing education; great new ideas that have already been tested, the lessons that we've learned along the way, and where there are opportunities for other communities to do similar things as they think about education.  On this episode of Learning Unboxed we are sharing the story of an organizatio...

A school is only as good as its teachers, and how we train our teachers is important. Joining us today is Mary Schneider and Erika Reeves to talk about school design at PAST, which is how we integrate the teachers with what they will be doing in the classroom. We also talk about P3 (problems, projects, products), an online course that introduces teachers into creating coursework and using design t...

This year, the PAST Foundation held our 2nd annual Girls Who Lead Summit. The event focused on giving 120 parents and students an opportunity to explore and try out different STEM skills. For this episode, we wanted to highlight some of the participants at this summit to share some of the incredible things they are doing! To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org Resources: Learn more at www.pastfo...

This year, the PAST Foundation held our 2nd annual Girls Who Lead Summit. The event focused on giving 120 parents and students an opportunity to explore and try out different STEM skills. For this episode, we wanted to highlight some of the participants at this summit to share some of the incredible things they are doing! To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org Resources: Learn more at www.pastfo...

Most people are familiar with Girl Scouts, but may not realize what they do today or the wide-spreading impact they have on girls and communities. Tammy Wharton, President and CEO of Girl Scouts of Ohio’s Heartland, talks about their mission to develop girls’ courage, confidence, and character, and how that mission helps move more girls towards STEM and STEAM careers. To learn more, visit: pastfou...

We’re talking with Asis Gonzalez, the Planetarium Coordinator at the Santa Fe Children’s Museum, to talk about a Planetarium that isn’t like any you’ve seen before: It travels! The goal is to get people excited about and invested in their surroundings in a way that traditional schoolwork can’t. To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org Resources: Learn more at www.santafechildrensmuseum.org Stargaz...

Today we visit the Buffalo Manufacturing Works with Susan Witt, the STEM Lab Manager for Buffalo Manufacturing Works, and Darius Melvin, an educator who came to Buffalo Manufacturing Works to be the STEM Learning Lab Instructor. We talk about the future of manufacturing work, what that is going to look like for kids, and how we prepare them for it. To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org Resource...

The Works is a museum, but it is also much more than that. It is a place to not just learn but explore for kids, families, and adults — and it’s an active member of the Newark, Ohio, community. Meghan Federer is the STEM Education Director for Middle and High School students at The Works, and she sees herself and the museum as a spark; an opportunity to ignite engagement in history, art, and techn...

Today we are going to talk about additive manufacturing, what some are calling the next industrial revolution. First of all, what exactly is additive manufacturing, and what is so exciting about it? We also talk about the Additive Manufacturing Summer Institute, which was a project between the National Science Foundation ATE Grant Program and Columbus State Community College, the PAST Foundation,...

Joining us today is Jenna McGuire, who is the Associate Director for Translational Data Analytics Institute at The Ohio State University, and Airyana Washington, a student who participated in the data science summer camp program. We talk about data science and what the heck it is. But more importantly, how do we get more young women interested in what data science is about? We also talk about Airy...

Joining us today are Armando Henriquez and Dean Alkire, who are going to talk about the role of university student clubs working with K-12 students and how we can get those young students to actively engage in their own learning in an after school setting. Armando is a fourth-year undergrad in mechanical engineering at the Ohio State University and Dean is an eighth grader at the Metro Early Colle...

We are once again on the road, this time with Bill Manchester. Bill has always hated the idea of wasting kids' time. He didn’t want music class to be seen as a filler class or time waster for students, so he worked hard to make something more out of it. He is passionate about teaching kids not just music, but everything, using the lens of musical performance and production. To learn more, visi...

Evelyn Van Til has her fingers in oh so many pies: she’s a cultural architect, she works in apprenticeships as a consultant at Apprenti, and she's incredibly active in the Central Ohio communities around technology, computer science education, and more. There is an expectation today that you can use technology, whether or not you see yourself working in tech. From retail, food service, and war...

Grady Burrows leads the talent initiative at BioEnterprise, a non-profit accelerator for the biomedical space. They find talent and train them in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and health IT industries. These fields are growing rapidly, locally and globally, and their job to grow and diversify talent is increasingly important to society. To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org Resources: Bio...

The Innovation Lab is the PAST Foundation’s “test kitchen,” where we brainstorm the creation of summer STEM experiences for the students. And today, we’re talking to two of the people responsible for creating these experiences: Ashley Price, Assistant Director of Bridge Programs at the PAST Innovation Lab, and Laura Bloch, a student at Columbia University who is working towards her master’s degree...

Joining us today is Kelly Preheim. Kelly is a kindergarten teacher in Armour, South Dakota. Armour is a small, rural town in South Dakota, with a population of only 800 people. Kelly is passionate around birds, and she found a way to teach everything in kindergarten through the lens of birds, from creating bird houses to field guides to help out their community. She also started the Chickadee Club...

When people talk about education, they rarely talk about agricultural education — but there are infinite possibilities for careers that are available to explore in this space! Luckily, we’re joined by two people who are well prepared to guide us through this possibility space: Chris Baker, Executive Director of the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation, and Marissa Mulligan, Extension Educator with 4-H Yout...

We’re back on the road. This time, we are in the beautiful, bustling city of Cape Town, South Africa – and we have an incredibly special treat! Because we have the opportunity to visit with Russell Stevens, Head of Education of the Two Oceans Aquarium. Two Ocean Aquarium sits in a perfect location for marine education, primed to be one of the most impactful education programs in the world. Because...