Student Experience Reports

A group of eight high-school students participating in The PAST Foundation’s Summer 2025 Environmental Workforce Cohort, embarked on a 6-night field trip to the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. As part of this immersive and hands-on experience, the students backpacked for three nights in the Tennessee and North Carolina backcountry led by The Tremont Institute’s professional guide.

The Social Justice Cohort of PAST Foundation’s 2025 Power Up Your Potential (PUYP) Workforce Development Program engaged in a deeply meaningful and immersive learning experience centered around history, archaeology, and community storytelling. A core component of the program was the cohort’s summer visit to James Madison’s Montpelier, home of the fourth U.S. president.

"Power Up Your Potential" is an 8-week work-based learning program for youth aged 15-18, designed to build essential STEM skills through hands-on training and industry mentorship. The program offers opportunities for participants to earn 2-5 industry-recognized credentials, contributing to their Ohio Means Job Readiness Seal and earning points toward their Industry Recognized Credential Seal.

PAST Summer Experiences provided students the opportunity to engage in a diverse variety of hands-on learning experiences, each designed to spark curiosity, foster creativity, and nurture critical thinking skills. fearlessly. Together, we fostered an environment where students were encouraged to take bold steps, ask curious questions, and approach challenges fearlessly.

During our 2023 Summer Experiences, students, families, partners, and the community came together to Experience, Explore, and Inspire" in our most successful summer to date! Alongside 58 passionate educators and 44 dedicated partners, we achieved something truly remarkable - impacting 13,491 students through 82 diverse programs across 14 locations.

The PAST Foundation's SMART Skills Workforce Development Internship program provided a transformative 7-week journey for 40 Central Ohio high-school student interns. These young individuals have gained invaluable hands-on experience and industry-recognized credentials in various STEM career fields, including Information Technology, Drone Flight, CAD and additive Manufacturing, Leadership, Cybersecurity, Financial Literacy, Fashion, Music, Media Production, and more.

In partnership with the Workforce Development Board of Central Ohio, the PAST Foundation implemented a 6-week Workforce Development program with (16) young adults (15-18 years of age). The participants had an opportunity to prepare for life outside of school through career exploration and real-world problem-solving.

2021 was our banner year! We exceeded our own expectations by reaching 2,182 students in 40 PAST led programs and 12 PAST-designed programs at 21 locations, impacting 32 school districts and connecting with 25 business and industry partners.

During 2020 COVID19 lockdown PAST and the Student Experience team pivoted to all online programming using zoom and curated videos detailing our unique TPBL design challenges which we called STEM Streaming.

In 2019 PAST continued its trajectory of offering the most diverse camps and experiences in Central Ohio and abroad as well as for the first time, a Workforce Development track to empower young adults with STEM skills and opportunities to find their way in the world!

Learn more about the 40 camps offered throughout 2019, our Workforce Pilot, and our after school efforts as well.

PAST Bridge Programs decided in 2018 to expand our experience to students and teachers in 2018. Working at multiple sites throughout central Ohio and at PAST Innovation Lab using our trusted transdisciplinary, problem-based learning methods.

PAST produced 28 camps with seven partners for our 2018 Camp & Bridge Programs. We encourage you to read or download these reports – you will be amazed by what these students have achieved!

PAST Bridge Programs bring a different experience to students and teachers. Through PAST Bridge Programs learning, we “bridge” students from traditional, lecture-based learning methods to transdisciplinary, problem-based learning methods.

PAST produces and annual publication showcasing that year’s Camp & Bridge Programs. We encourage you to read or download these reports – you will be amazed by what these students have achieved!

“The PAST team continually re-examines its programs to improve their scalability, sustainability, and transferability."

The Hocking College Ecolab program is an excellent example of an ever-evolving program. This year the program offered students the opportunity to conduct fieldwork on endangered species, and then create a website to display their evidence of learning. Generally, Bridge Programs operate on the small-footprint big-impact theory.However, this program needed to be reinvented in order to involve a large community of students.”

“The PAST team continually re-examines its programs to improve their scalability, sustainability, and transferability."

This year PAST Foundation’s Bridge Programs is 15 years old! That’s 15 years of high quality, hands-on, engaging programming for students and adults.

This year Bridge Programs expanded its successful collaboration with Shadowbox Live with STEM Rocks the Box and introduced fun and innovative new programming such as Robotics, Minecraft mathematics and STEM of Tai Chi.

“The PAST team continually re-examines its programs to improve their scalability, sustainability, and transferability.

Forensics in the Classroom, in its fifth year, is an excellent example of an ever-evolving program. This year the program required retooling in terms of scale, program topic,and transferability. Generally, Bridge Programs operate on the small-footprint big-impact theory.However, this program needed to be reinvented in order to involve a large community of students.”

“Experiences are the foundation of the PAST Summer Bridge Programs; holistic learning environments that immerse students in real-world problems with authentic partners and audiences. Every program requires energy, collaboration, and commitment from students, staff and teachers. In return, the programs provide incredibly rewarding experiences that possess impactful learning.”

“At every level, The PAST Design Team instills each program with four vital components: Real Issues, Real Partnerships, a Transdisciplinary Approach, and Presentations of Learning. PAST measures its success in its ability to meet these ideals, an students enthusiastically recommend PAST programs because of their moving experiences and lasting memories.”

“PAST Summer Bridge Programs vary in intensity and content depth, depending on the age and experience of the students. Level I targets students transitioning to problem-based environment, LevelII  is for students who excel at applied learning, Level III provides advanced stdent leadership opportunities, and Collegiate Level programs serve motivated adult students with intense, content-rich experiences.”

“The PAST team continually re-examines its programs to improve their scalability, sustainability, and transferability. Forensics in the Classroom, in its fifth year, is an excellent example of an ever-evolving program. This year the program required retooling in terms of scale, program topic, and transferability. Generally, Bridge Programs operate on the small-footprint big-impact theory.However, this program needed to be reinvented in order to involve a large community of students.”