Celebrating 50 Years of EXPLO

For 50 summers, EXPLO has been asking one simple question: What happens when you give young people the freedom to explore? The answer has taken us to classrooms, labs, stages, playing fields, college campuses, and countless conversations that started with “What if?”

In 2027, we’re celebrating 50 years of curiosity, creativity, and discovery, and the thousands of young people who have made EXPLO what it is. This is a chance to celebrate where we've been, reconnect with the people who helped shape us, and imagine what's next.

50 Years of EXPLO

In 1976, EXPLO began with an idea that still drives us today: young people learn best when they're given the freedom to follow their curiosity. Instead of asking students to sit back and absorb information, EXPLO invited them to get involved—to experiment, create, question, collaborate, and try something new.

Over the decades, the world around us has changed dramatically. So has EXPLO. We've evolved our programs, explored new subjects, welcomed new generations, and adapted to the ways young people learn and connect. But the heart of EXPLO has stayed remarkably consistent: Follow your curiosity. Find your people. Try something you've never tried before.

We're celebrating the people who have made the last 50 years possible.

The inventor who discovered they loved engineering. The writer who found their voice. The kid who arrived knowing no one and left with lifelong friends. The instructor who watched a young person suddenly understand something they'd been struggling with. The advisor who stayed up late talking through a homesick moment. The alum who still remembers the summer when they first realized, I can do this.

50 summers means 50 years of moments like these. We're celebrating all of them: the big breakthroughs, the unexpected discoveries, the inside jokes, the friendships, the experiments that worked, and the ones that absolutely did not. Most of all, we're celebrating the generations of people who have made EXPLO what it is.

Generations of Spark: Memories from the Founders’ Daughter, Robbie Singal

Arnie and Ann imagined EXPLO as a place where young people could explore ideas because they were interesting, not because they were required. It was not summer school or traditional camp. It was a place for kids who wanted to do something different, try new interests, meet surprising people, and follow their curiosity without worrying about grades.

From Spark to Fire: How Curiosity Led One Scientist to Mars

Her journey to leading a Mars rover mission was not a simple, linear path into planetary science. Instead, her career has been defined by a willingness to step outside of her comfort zone, take unexpected off-ramps, and embrace new challenges. This mindset was fostered in part during her first independent learning experience as a high school student at the EXPLO summer program.

50 Summers of Curiosity: The Magic Spark of EXPLO

How the early days of EXPLO became a proving ground for Brian Hughes and Scott Traylor—and their belief in transformative learning.

What if learning wasn’t something students had to do—but something they helped create?

The origin of EXPLO started with this core question, and with a small, scrappy team.

Your EXPLO Story

Were you part of EXPLO?

Maybe you spent a summer here as a student. Maybe you taught a workshop, led an advisor group, worked behind the scenes, or helped make the whole thing run.

Maybe it was 1976. Maybe it was 2016. Maybe it was last summer.

If EXPLO is part of your story, we'd love to hear it. Share a favorite memory, a photo, a story about someone who made an impact on you, or simply tell us what EXPLO meant to you.

Share Your Story

Come Celebrate With Us

Our 50th anniversary belongs to the whole EXPLO community. There are lots of ways to be part of the celebration.

Check out old EXPLO yearbooks

We digitized all of the yearbooks that we had in our archives! See what it was like to attend EXPLO from the 70s-00s.

EXPLO Yearbook Archive

Share your story + explore others’

Tell us about your EXPLO experience and help us capture five decades of memories. And, check out some of the stories submitted by other alumni and former staff.

Alumni Stories

Reconnect with EXPLO

Know someone from your EXPLO days? Send them our way. Invite a former friend, advisor, instructor, or colleague to reconnect with the community.

Reconnect

Join us for an event

We'll be bringing our community together throughout our 50th anniversary year. Keep an eye out for upcoming events and opportunities to celebrate.

See What's Coming Up

Help open the door for a curious kid

The future of EXPLO depends on making this experience accessible to more young people. Learn how you can support financial aid and help a new generation find their spark.

Support EXPLO's Financial Aid Fund

Building the next generation of EXPLO

We're continuing to invest in middle school summer programming because we believe these years are an extraordinary time for exploration.

At this age, young people are beginning to discover what excites them. They're asking bigger questions, developing stronger opinions, and starting to see themselves as capable of doing things they once thought were out of reach.

We're continuing to build programs that give rising 7th–9th graders the freedom to go deep into their interests while also discovering entirely new ones. More ideas. More possibilities. More ways to find your spark.

Explore Programs

Making EXPLO accessible

We believe curiosity shouldn't depend on a family's ability to pay.

That's why we're working to establish a Financial Aid fund that will help more young people experience EXPLO, regardless of their financial circumstances.

As we look toward the next 50 years, expanding access will be an important part of our work and an important way for our community to shape EXPLO's future.

See how you can can help

50th Anniversary

50 Summers of Curiosity