Learning Unboxed

If it involves getting more folks outside, learning, and protecting our environment, we are all about it here at the PAST Foundation. And that’s why we are so enamored with the programs offered by the National Park Service. And today, Julianne Geleynse from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is going to teach us about the Parks as Classrooms program, which is offered at a number of different parks around the U.S.To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.orgResources:Do you want to schedule a virtual program for your class? Send an email to grfm_education [at] nps.govNational Park Service’s Resources for EducatorsSmokieee’s at HomeLearning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

Employment is a big conversation these days, for both those seeking employment and those seeking to hire, and the issues involved are numerous and complex. And this was a big conversation before 2020’s record unemployment numbers. Now? It’s simply one of the biggest conversations that needs to be had.So we sat down with Dr. Rachel Angel, President and CEO of Anexsis, which has developed an interactive software that engages young adults seeking employment called Peerro. Dr. Angel offers us a glimpse at the future of employment — as well as what we need to do, as a society, to ensure we have a workforce in the future.To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.orgResources:peerro.comInstagram: @peerro_Facebook: www.facebook.com/anexsisLearning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

Yellowstone Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) is a paid — yes, paid — student residential employment and education program in which 64 teenagers live, work, play, learn, and grow in Yellowstone National Park. They stay in the park for just over a month to work on projects that improve the park for both visitors and mother nature, and one hour is set aside each day for purposeful education, leadership activities, and career development. And this is such an impactful program that about 20% of the current YCC staff were previously students who participated in the program!To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.orgResources:Learn more about the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) ProgramLearning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

The Ohio State University Center for Innovation Strategies has an incredible program called OnRamp, which is a corporate innovation idea accelerator driven by innovative students.  Given initial concepts generated by a sponsor, a group of students conduct customer validation and innovation techniques over a multi-week program to result in out-of-the-box solutions. This gives students from any area of the school an opportunity to experience what it’s like to work within a Lean Startup environment, working collaboratively with other students and a corporate sponsor to solve real-world problems.And today, we’re going to talk to three students who either have participated in or are currently participating in OnRamp:Drew Mayerson, a fourth-year scholar student at Ohio State, who is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration through the Max Fisher College of Business and OnRamp graduate.Szofi Wiksell, a sophomore at the Ohio State University with a double major in marketing and public policy, who is currently in the middle of the program.David McGrath, who is currently studying finance at OSU and participated in the program a couple years ago.To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.orgResources:Learn more about OnRampLearning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

Today we’re covering a topic that we’ve never actually talked about on the program before: What do school boards do? Why would someone run for one? And is it really important?Really, it’s impossible to talk about what’s going on within our school without considering what’s going on within our school boards. So, we sat down with three newly elected school board members to hear why they were compelled to serve their communities in this capacity:John Jones, an experienced business owner, a former Huron City Council member, and a new member for Huron City School Board.Dr. Tina Pierce, a program manager for the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University, CEO and Founder of WORTH (Working through Obstacles Reaching True Heights Foundation), and a new member of Columbus City School Board.Lori Trent, the communications and development guru here at the PAST Foundation, an art teacher, and a new member of the Upper Arlington School Board.To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.orgLearning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

Project Zero is an educational research group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education dedicated to understanding and enhancing learning and thinking. This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about Project Zero on the show — and it probably won’t be the last! — because they are trying to make teaching, learning, and the future of work very relevant and right now. But the secret to this conversation is that work in progressive learning has been going on for many years and it's having quite the impact, so we actually have quite a few clues about where to go in the future.Our guests are Mara Krechevsky, a senior researcher from Project Zero, and Dr. Fred Burton, who has spent 44 years as an educator in progressive education, including 13 years as principal of Wickliffe Progressive Elementary School.To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.orgResources:Learn more about Project ZeroFind more resources created by MaraListen: “74 | Cultivating Creative & Civic Capacities | with Jennifer Lehe, Jason Blair, & Britanie Risner”Instagram: @projectzerohgseFacebook: facebook.com/ProjectZeroHGSELearning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

Yellowstone National Park is one of the most iconic spaces in the United States, if not the world, due to its unique geography and, increasingly, the sheer size of undeveloped land. Yellowstone also happens to be one of the most incredible classrooms in the world, and today we’re going to learn a little bit more about that. Our guest is Beth Taylor, the Youth Education Program Manager at Yellowstone National Park.To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.orgResources:Distance learning opportunities and activitiesLearn more about Yellowstone National ParkLearning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

Our collective unwillingness to have conversations around things like mental health, familial mental illness, and addiction is really holding a lot of kids back from making it through the day in a strong, successful way — especially this year — but the 16 Strong Project is trying to change that.Learn how you can break the stigma around mental health with Samantha Wettje and Susan Solar.To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.orgResources:www.16strongproject.comInstagram: @16strongprojectTwitter: @16StrongProjectLearning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

2020 has brought a lot of challenges. But at the same time, it’s brought a lot of opportunities to access educational resources from all around the world that were previously inaccessible to most people. And right now, there's an amazing opportunity — and necessity — to bring native voices into your teaching and learning every day.To teach us more about what it looks like to bring native voices into both formal and informal education spaces, we sat down with Colleen Call Smith, who serves as an education specialist in the National Museum of the American Indians Office of Education.To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.orgResources:Native Knowledge 360NMAI’s resources for teachersLearning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio

Can we create #ZeroDirt beds via a repeatable process that can be utilized in almost any urban environment — and on another planet?This is the question that we wanted to answer when we started #ProjectMartian. Inspired by our previous SOIL Lab Project and a forced pivot in the midst of a global pandemic, we wanted to show the community of Columbus what STEM looks like when deployed to feed people and innovate an industry while simultaneously changing the face of agriculture and sustainability in urban settings. So we launched #ProjectMartian at the PAST Innovation Lab and our partner site, Mezzacello, a 21st Century Urban Farm in Columbus.And PAST’s own Sultan of Systems, Jim Bruner, is the project director of this collaborative urban farming project. You may not guess it from his title, but Jim is a farmer at heart, and Mezzacello just so happens to be his passion project and urban farm. So, he really gets into the weeds about what's happening at the intersection between STEM, applied teaching and learning, urban sustainability, and food scarcity in the midst of a global pandemic.To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.orgResources:"Introducing Project Martian""#ProjectMartian: A Non-Profit’s Mission to Innovate and Feed During COVID19""#ProjectMartian: Chapter 1 - Preparing for Launch""#ProjectMartian: Chapter 2 – COVID19 Course Correction!"Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate MediaRecorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio