PAST Foundation

Summer bridge programs: the Past bridge programs offer an array of exciting projects that students, adults, teachers and partners can become involved in. The projects are structured for both day and overnight throughout the summer months. Each program targets a specific audience and is structured to meet the needs of participants. Over the Past ten years, Past programs have evolved into bridge programs as the Past Foundation team strives to build programs that use the world as schoolroom, immerse students in learning and have real outcomes. Bridge programs stand apart from concept to implementation. The term bridge is a way to help students move from one way of thinking or one level of thinking to the next. The programs provide the bridge reinforcing critical thinking and exposing students to at least three levels of problem-based learning. Bridge program success is derived from several years of planning, scaling, testing and defining real world issues and partnerships with engaging education. There are four vital components of the bridge program: real issues, real partners, a transdisciplinary approach and a polished presentation of learning following the traditional cycle of design principles used in all scientific methodologies. Using bridge program structure the Past Foundation touches hundreds of life long learners each year. Each program has its own unique qualities and activities. Each program has a practical goal and set of presentations. Each program reaches out to the public in real time through social networking and later through podcast. Ethnographic knowledge capture: Past provides embedded anthropologists for continuous study & analysis to evolve stem educational reform. Understanding local culture is critical to successful educational reform. Ethnographic knowledge capture coalesces the community voices relecting common threads of understanding and unique community prespectives informing decision making and revealing bottlenecks in the system so that they can be addressed. Culturally relevant educational design connects students and teachers with local community and industry. Ethnographic knowledge capture helps in planning and partnering so that the underlying systems reflect the entire community and are as robust as possible. Anthropology provides avenues for real-time and agile course correction that is key to program growth and sustained success. Stem school design and implementation: stem provides an approach to learning that allows students of all ages to explore and examine real world issues holistically. Using the tried and true design principles of scientific methods as a vehicle, while bringing many disciplines to bear on a question, links learning to life. Combining a transdisciplinary approach that de-silos education with stem design principles addressing real world issues enable Past to partner with teachers, schools, communities and industry to build programs that are engaging and sustainable. Past has partnered with schools around the world in building programs that: address real issues, are aligned to educational standards, continue to grow, are sustainable, and have real outcomes. Strong programs require a set of partners from industry, higher education, pk-12, and the community. Employing teachers as fundamental partners, Past anthropologists are able to build strong cohorts that are supported through consistent professional development within a well-structured system that can be scaled and sustained. Partnering with higher education, industry and the community these collaboratives provide students and teachers with deep content expertise and access to current research and support. Utilizing technology, Past is able to spur inquiry and broaden the reach of all programs. Past helps teachers, schools and communities build programs that transform educational systems into 21st century learning centers.