A Collaboration with Bath & Body Works Inc. in Mentorship and STEM
By Alyssa Reder
The PAST Foundation is excited to announce its newest partnership with Bath & Body Works—one of the world’s leading specialty fragrance retailers. This collaboration will provide an opportunity to make a more significant impact in the community and bring new and innovative experiences to students through STEM education.
“At Bath & Body Works, we understand the importance of STEM education to develop the skills needed for our future workforce as well as the power of mentoring. We are proud to partner with The PAST Foundation to create a program that emphasizes both elements and gives our own associates one more way to give back,” said Ronak Fields, AVP of Community Relations at Bath & Body Works.
The PAST Foundation bases student and professional learning experiences on the notion that good STEM education is directly linked to the level of innovative instruction and content delivery. To this end, PAST has developed culturally focused STEM program design and development models that are the cornerstone of the educational transformation in PAST Foundation-supported programs.
Beginning in September 2021 through May 2022, employees from Bath & Body Works will volunteer their time and talents towards a collaborative PAST developed mentorship program, consisting of three different phases:
Mentorship training
Developing STEM programming with students
Facilitating after-school STEM programming and activities that will focus on the Science of Fragrance
The STEM activities will focus on understanding how scents and fragrances are created in nature and chemistry. Examples of those student activities will include:
Making perfume
Creating labels for scented products
Understanding the difference between natural and synthetic fragrances
A goal of the PAST Foundation’s STEM transformational model is to partner professionals with educators drawing on exciting events that engage and excite students. Today’s youth should possess the skills to take what they learn in formal and formal education settings into their adult lives. Their experiences affect how they approach decision-making, problem solving, and perceive the world around them. PAST believes that helping our youth better understand the world’s interconnectivity will prepare them to be more effective members of their communities.
PAST is excited about this opportunity to work with industry partners to make a more significant impact in the community and bring new and innovative experiences to students.