Learning Unboxed

What happens when social enterprise meets education and opportunity? A whole lot of good. Nik Kafka is the Chief Executive and Founder of Teach A Man To Fish, a charity he founded after leaving a successful banking career. He discovered an innovative school in Paraguay that was aiming not only to teach the poor how to become rural entrepreneurs, but to do so as a self-financing enterprise. He help...

Apprenticeship is a classic mode of education that we have yet to tap into the full potential of in modern times. But there are organizations out there making the most of apprenticeship, and the benefits it can provide. Joining us to talk about apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship, and how these are taking place across the world are Rebecca DeMatteis and BJ Knutson of ApprenticeOhio. Rebecca is the...

How can we effectively, as a community, create STEM pipelines for our local businesses and industries? And how can we make sure that effort spreads well beyond the local community? Frederic Bertley is President and CEO of The Center of Science and Industry (or COSI as it’s known colloquially). Our current K-12 system is woefully inadequate at preparing children for the world they are growing into....

When you think about learning, it’s important to remember that each classroom – or wherever the learning takes place – is made up of a number of individuals with different needs. A one-size-fits-all approach just won’t work. How does that play out when you are overseeing nearly two million students? Paolo DeMaria is Ohio’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. He’s a passionate leader, a tireless...

Colin McGinnis is the CEO of South Side Early Learning, a high-quality early learning school founded in 1922. He’s passionate about early education and ending the disparities that prevent young learners from accessing the education they need to develop a solid foundation. He’s also working to end low wages paid to the teachers who influence children’s success through life. When South Side and PAST...

We’re going to continue our ongoing conversation around entrepreneurship, social enterprise, and how the two relate to the education system. Joining us is Jerry Valentine, an active community member and volunteer in the Columbus, Ohio area. As part of his journey, he has completed community hackathons, startup accelerator programs such as Give Back Hack Columbus, and participated in SEA Change whe...

Steve Shapiro is a veteran educator of 32 years. He has taught sixth grade through graduate school, primarily as a high school teacher and school reformer. Our education system was built hundreds of years ago. To say the world has changed a lot since then is an understatement. More than just the adoption of computers in the classroom, there were no cars or even radios. And yet, very little about o...

Today we’re talking about the WOSU classroom. WOSU is a public media station that hosts everything from radio stations, to TV stations, to digital broadcasts, as well as, of course, classrooms. They take kids from birth to 12th grade, offering programs for kids, caregivers, families, teachers, and more. They offer a holistic learning experience with the goal of creating as many touch points as pos...

Is traditional education about learning to be a successful, well-rounded human, or just about getting good at school itself? Doug Schachtel is the co-founder and Head of Community at Portfolio School, where they believe that making is the best form of learning. As they put it, “We don’t have a maker studio, we are a maker studio.” Their approach to learning enables students to set their own goals,...

Lisa M. Chambers has more than 20 years of experience building cross-sector, strategic alliances and developing nationally and award recognized Computer Science and Information Technology programs for K12 classrooms. As the National Executive Director of TECH CORPS, she leverages the power of relationships and works across private, public, and corporate sectors to advance the mission of the organi...

Today, we go into detail on an innovative education program, NuVu Studio, a full time innovation school based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Joining us is Saeed Arida, the Chief Excitement Officer at NuVu Studio, and three students at NuVu, Anara Magavi, 10th Grade, with a focus on design; Siena Jekel, 9th Grade, with a focus on film and innovation; and Luca Rudenstine, 12th grade, with a passion fo...

Rana Dajani is a worldwide advocate, and research scientist. She holds a PhD in molecular cell biology, has received many accolades and recognitions around the world, has participated in the Clinton Global Initiative, is on The Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program from Jordan to the United States, and so much more. She is also the author of “ Five Scarves: Doing the Impossible ,” an exploration of t...

We’re continuing our conversation on the ideologies of progressive education and how to put them into practice. We’ve talked about the origins of the progressive education movement, the philosophy behind it, and why it works so well for students, families, communities, and teachers. Now we’re talking to two teachers who have been working in progressive education for a while. We dive into more of t...

We continue our conversation on digital transformation, this time focusing on growing startups and fostering entrepreneurship as a component of transformation. Jasmine De Gaia is currently the Executive Director of Transformation at JP Morgan Chase & Co. She has over 20 years of experience in building and leading innovative digital and agile organizations. She’s returning from being featured o...

We continue our discussion of progressive education by exploring equality and justice. Joining us are three experts in the progressive education movement. Theresa Collins has 27 years of experience teaching high school English, she was past president of the Progressive Education Network, and she is now co-director of the National Institute of Progressive Education. Kavan Yee is the director of Mid...

Dr. Alvin Logan, Jr. is the Director of Education and Affiliate Curator of African Culture and Education at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture from Seattle, Washington. Dr. Logan has a track record of building support systems to catalyze learning from marginalized communities, from middle school to graduate school. His focus is on culturally relevant pedagogical approaches, decoloniza...

Outdoor science education is an essential part of any child’s education. It offers them a real, tangible reference point for their future coursework in science and technology. At the McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS) of the University of Idaho, educators and scientists work together to create diverse, inclusive communities of learners while asking challenging questions that transform their thin...

We take the show on the road, so to speak, to Ireland, talking about innovations in education across the pond. Joining us are three industry experts to talk about the work being done there. Alice D’Arcy has been involved in STEAM Education Ltd. since it was founded in 2014 and now serves as its Managing Director. She’s intimately involved in the development, delivery, and training of all STEAM pro...

Today, we have a Learning Unboxed takeover. One of our internal colleagues, Javier Cruz, is going to be controlling the host’s mic to lead a conversation discussing student experiences — and what that means in a STEM world. Javier is joined by Melissa Olvera, Swathi Vudatala, Caleb Buaful, and Josiah Nahhas — all students of The PAST Foundation — to share their experience and talk about how it has...

PAST’s podcast passion project, Learning Unboxed, has reached the 100 episode milestone! To commemorate, we thought we’d turn the mic to me, your host, Annalies Corbin, to explore the origin story of the show while celebrating milestones past, present, and future. We talk about how my life-long thirst for knowledge ultimately led me to PAST and this podcast. I’m so grateful for this incredible pla...

Today we’re delving into PAST’s origin story with the founders who had the courage and vision to start this foundation with me twenty years ago.  Dennis Aig, Sheli Smith, Andy Hall, and I take a walk down memory lane to reflect on how we set the stage for PAST to innovate, teach and succeed – despite the growing pains we all had to stomach along the way.   We wouldn’t be here today without our inc...

We’re super excited to have Jasmine de Gaia and Paige Love from JPMorgan Chase & Co. back on the show for the second segment of our three-part series on innovation strategies within education and the workforce.  We touch on the importance of failure and fluidity for an evolving workforce to thrive and the different ways the tech industry encourages more women, girls, and minorities to move int...

Riley Andrews is a middle-school student who we’ve had the pleasure of watching flourish academically since transitioning to a STEM school. Today, Riley shares the educational shifts between her different schools, how she navigated the increased workload, and the pros and cons of virtual learning during the pandemic. To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org Learning Unboxed is produced in part by...

The Veterans Curation Program hires veterans to curate and maintain archeological collections that preserve U.S. history and endow participants with employable skills for the ever-changing civilian job market.  This wonderful trio of educational leaders —Kelly Brown, Shannon Johnson, and Jessica Mundt — is on the ground, literally making history with those who have served. We discuss the ins-and-o...

On October 4, 2017, Shaesta Waiz made aviation history when she became the youngest woman to fly solo around the world in a single-engine aircraft. And since then, she hasn’t stopped making her mark, in the skies or on the ground. Her foundation, Dreams Soar, runs inspiring outreach programs across the globe to encourage more girls and women to study and work in male-dominated spheres of STEM and...