FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2017 Contact: Lori Trent 614-340-1208 X1215 or ltrent@pastfoundation.org
PAST Foundation Receives Generous Gift from AEP Foundation
(Columbus, OH) – The PAST Foundation headquartered in Columbus, Ohio recently received a generous gift of $200,000 from the American Electric Power Foundation. This gift will be used to fund energy systems for the prototyping educational facility to demonstrate and monitor real world information that can be fully integrated into Energy programs supporting the student challenge of taking the facility off the grid on multiple platforms. The PAST Innovation Lab, an R&D Educational Prototyping Facility was created specifically to support meaningful partnerships between industry, K12, post-secondary and community organizations.
The AEP Foundation is funded by American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) and its utility operating units including AEP Ohio, which provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers in Ohio.
“PAST Innovation Lab provides space where partnering organizations envision and create educational programs responsive to STEM workforce development,” Annalies Corbin, President & CEO of PAST Foundation explained. “We are committed to exploring new ways of creating engaged and meaningful experiences for today’s youth through partnerships with Battelle, Honda, EWI, Columbus State, OSU Engineering, Metro ECHS, and now the AEP Foundation.” In announcing the new partnership Corbin praised AEP’s generosity and recent gift, “Prior to receiving this incredible financial support, AEP invited teachers and students to visit the amazing Dolan Laboratory and AEP’s state-of-the-art training centers. They offer internships for high school students that connect real world opportunities, providing experiences that will last a lifetime. Making a difference in student lives is what we seek from our partners.”
“The AEP Foundation is pleased to support the highly creative STEM education efforts of the PAST Foundation,” said Dale Heydlauff, president of the AEP Foundation. “The PAST Innovation Lab brings exciting, engaging, real-world education to students and educators from across central Ohio.”
The AEP Foundation provides a permanent, ongoing resource for charitable initiatives involving higher dollar values and multi-year commitments in the communities served by AEP and initiatives outside of AEP’s 11-state service area.
The Foundation focuses on improving lives through education from early childhood through higher education in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and by meeting basic needs for emergency shelter, affordable housing and the elimination of hunger. Other Foundation support may be offered to protect the environment, support healthcare and safety, and enrich life through art, music and cultural heritage. The AEP Foundation is based in Columbus, Ohio.
For over 17 years, PAST, a non-profit foundation, has been a leader in designing STEM education across the nation, bringing transdisciplinary problem-based learning to educators and experiential programs to students. Most notably, PAST was recently recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for its Excellence in Innovation in the STEM 2026 vision report. PAST was the only educational entity in Ohio to be included in this publication. Here is the link to the full report: http://www.air.org/system/files/downloads/report/STEM-2026-Vision-for-Innovation-September-2016.pdf
Other accomplishments include being recognized in 2014, by CGI America and former President Bill Clinton for their outstanding work, and again in 2015 for their achievements in improving education in rural America. Also in 2015, the PAST Innovation Lab was recognized by the White House Summit on High School Design.
In 2015, PAST Foundation launched a $5 million capital campaign to purchase and renovate a 32,000-square foot building, creating the nation’s first, independent, educational R&D prototyping facility. PAST is committed to developing innovative, educational models, where K12, post-secondary, community and industry work together designing learning environments that strengthen the pipelines to post-secondary and workforce. Six months later, the PAST Innovation Lab opened its doors to a variety of school and community programs in collaboration with industry partners. These programs provide a critical springboard for collaboration and innovation in a setting unlike anywhere else in the US.
For more information on PAST Foundation and how you can connect link learning to life, visit https://www.pastfoundation.org/ or contact Lori Trent at ltrent@pastfoundation.org.
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