Learning Unboxed

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.pastfoundation.org/girls-who-lead-summit

Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate Media

Recorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

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: pastfoundation.org

Resources:

• Learn more at www.gsoh.org
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tammy-wharton-1a24939

Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate Media

Recorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

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
• Stargazer: www.santafechildrensmuseum.org/explore/stargazer-portable-planetarium

Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate Media

Recorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

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

Resources:

• Learn more at www.buffalomanufacturingworks.com

Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate Media

Recorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

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 technology. Meghan takes a hands-on role in helping kids and adults alike take charge of their learning and find new ways to explore.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

Resources:

• Learn more at www.attheworks.org
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/attheworks
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/attheworks

Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate Media

Recorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

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, along with a lot of collaborators from industry and a variety of educational partners in and around the community.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

Resources:

• Additive Manufacturing Summer Program: https://www.pastfoundation.org/additive-manufacturing-summer-institute

Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate Media

Recorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

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 Airyana’s interest in politics, advocating for minorities, and the environment at a political level, and how to take all of this interest and turn it into a future career.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

Resources:

• Learn more: https://tdai.osu.edu/summer-camp/

Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate Media

Recorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

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 College Middle School participating in an afterschool program called the Innovators Club.

Together, they talk about the experiences of bringing engineering into schools early in a fun, exciting way, and the wide-reaching education that comes from working on these projects.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

Resources:

• Metro Early College Middle School: https://www.themetroschool.org/o/metro-schools/page/metro-early-college-middle-school
• The Innovators Club: https://www.pastfoundation.org/event_page/innovators-club

Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate Media

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, visit: pastfoundation.org

Resources:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/manchester_edu
• TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/umA0K6aE15U

Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate Media

Recorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

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 warehousing logistics to the more obvious careers in tech and cutting-edge innovation that you see at startups, technology simply touches every aspect of work today.

We are seeing transformation at every level, and it’s important that we meet it with a strong foundation to set us up for the future.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

Resources:

• Learn more at www.apprenticareers.org
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/evelynvantil
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/EvelynVanTil

Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate Media

Recorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio