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Summer Program Instructors
Meet Our Summer 2021 Student Program Instructors
Fatima Bainazar
Fatima is a sophomore at The Ohio State University, majoring in Systems Engineering and Russian. In high school, she was the engineering project manager for The Metrobots robotics team and found a passion for leading and working with others in a team. She has also run several summer camps for PAST and is passionate about getting young kids interested in all aspects of STEM. Now Fatima works on planning and coordinating interviews for the Learning Unboxed podcast.
Summer 2021 Instructor for: All Elementary & Middle School Minecraft Programs
Dr. Andrew Bruening
Dr. Andrew Bruening is the Program Innovations Officer at PAST and a founding faculty member of Metro Early College High School. Andy brings extensive experience teaching high school science and engineering courses to PAST. He also coaches Metro’s FIRST Robotics team 3324 The Metrobots and brings a wide range of rapid prototyping skills to PAST. He is also the operational director of the Center of Robotics Innovation (CORI) at PAST.
Summer 2021 Instructor for: Mission to Mars: Robotics & Agriculture
Jim Bruner
A mashup of graphic designer, web developer and project manager with 20 years in educational technology experience. The introduction to Problem-Based Learning has captured Jim’s imagination and ignited his passion. Eager to work with TPBL, STEM and partner with schools, community, and business and industry to transform teaching and learning. In his spare time, Jim Mentors young students and teaches “STEM of Tai Chi” at PAST Innovation Lab as well as enjoying farm life at his urban farm, Mezzacello.
Summer 2021 Instructor for: Urban Agriculture Technology Program at Mezzacello
Javier Cruz
Javier is currently a senior at the Metro Early College High School and intern at PAST as part of the Ohio Department of Education’s Youth-Pre Apprenticeship program. His passions include sports, music, and visual arts. His college courses focus on graphic design and visual art. Along with these classes, his internship at PAST has helped him gain experience in working as a graphic designer. Javier is a strong believer that hard work is the best way to achieve your goals.
Summer 2021 Instructor for: Introduction to Video Production
Jessa Goldner
Jessa has dedicated her post college career to National Service and spent the past three years engaging with and assisting diverse communities throughout the country. This work was inspired by her time at The Ohio State University. Jessa is passionate about utilizing the natural world as a learning laboratory and as a place to expand on social and emotional competencies in order to create more authentic leaders. She desires to bring these routines to students and working to bring more environmental and natural history programs to PAST programming.
Summer 2021 Instructor for: NArt! Nature in Art, Water Ways, and PAST Programming for KIPP Columbus
Noah Grissett
Noah is an English teacher, outdoor fanatic, and lifelong learner. He loves reading new books and learning about new things. He enjoys rock climbing, paddle-boarding, and hiking the great outdoors, but also loves playing board games with friends in the great indoors. Finally, he loves to travel and explore new cultures. Currently, he is studying STEM Education at OSU and working on developing curriculum for Metro Early College High School.
Summer 2021 Instructor for: Esports
Johnny Hendrix
Johnny is going into his second year studying Mechanical Engineering and Robotics at the University of Cincinnati. He has been helping run programs at the PAST Foundation for four years, and loves teaching the next generation of STEM students about programming, engineering, robotics, and more. In his free time he likes to build robots, make games, and keep bees.
Summer 2021 Instructor for: Maker Mania: Arduino Robotics, CAD & 3D Printing, Elementary Coding, and FIRST Lego League
Tyler Hertenstein
With a teaching mantra to “challenge and inspire the next generation of doers and thinkers,” Tyler Hertenstein has been a teacher for 6 years, 5 of which are at Metro Early College High School. He has taught engineering, robotics, algebra, and programming. He is also a coach of Metro’s FIRST Robotics Competition team, The Metrobots. This is his 5th summer as a PI, leading camps on CAD, Arduino, coding, drones, and many more. He has a B.S. in Engineering Education from Ohio Northern University and a M.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. Tyler also enjoys woodworking, running, and family time.
Summer 2021 Instructor for: CAD & 3D Printing, Aviation, and Cyber Bootcamp
Kelsie Ralston
Kelsie Ralston graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Fine Art. She is the Creative Director at her church and a freelance photographer year round. Kelsie’s goal, through photography, is to capture candid joy amongst people. She enjoys getting to know people and making them feel comfortable and confident. In her free time she enjoys painting and drawing flowers, hiking with her husband and dog, and spending time with friends at new restaurants! You can check out her photography work at https://www.facebook.com/art.by.kelsrals.
Summer 2021 Instructor for: Outdoor Photography
Alyssa Reder
As a Project Coordinator for PAST, Alyssa works to coordinate, create, and collaborate within all areas of PAST. Prior to her start at PAST, Alyssa worked in Administrative and Educational Research Field work at the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research & Policy at the Ohio State University. This is where she found her true passion for the transformation of education for administrators, teachers, and students. Alyssa’s work at Ohio State fueled her desire to continue working within the field of development and improvement of educational practices across all grades and subjects.
Summer 2021 Instructor for: Balanced Family Academy programming as well as and all Early Childhood programming
Amanda Schaeffer
Mrs. Schaeffer teaches a middle school art class called Art and Ecology at the Innovative Learning Hub for Hilliard City Schools. This is her 14th year teaching for Hilliard City Schools and 18th year teaching in public schools. Mrs. Schaeffer, her three kids, husband and dog also live in Hilliard. Her favorite thing to do is to hang out with her family and friends, garden and to create art. Mrs. Schaeffer also loves to read, listen to all kinds of music and hike whenever she can.
Summer 2021 Instructor for: Roots Up: Art & STEM
Piage Schaffter
Paige grew up in Northwest Ohio, which is where her passion for agriculture started by showing pigs through 4-H and being involved in her high school’s agriculture education program and FFA. She studied Agriscience Education at THE Ohio State University and is currently job hunting. She chose to take this position to learn more about problem-based learning and urban agriculture to help her become a better educator for her future students. In her free time, she enjoys running, reading, trying different restaurants, and playing card games with friends and family. “I am so excited to join the PAST team this summer!”
Summer 2021 Instructor for: Urban Agriculture Technology
Chelsee Thiele
Chelsee Thiele is an adventure seeker. She loves spending time with her husband and their two kids. Whether it’s attending hockey games, exploring new parks, or trying a quaint new restaurant; you’ll find her capturing these everyday moments through photography. Chelsee is also an avid reader, pianist, and movie guru. She, and Kelsie, work together on photoshoots and projects and are looking forward to teaching the Digital Photography Camp through PAST this Summer!
Summer 2021 Instructor for: Outdoor Photography