FAST started in 2015 as a partnership between a few graduate students at Stanford University and teachers in east San Jose, California. The goal was to provide high school students with an outlet to explore whatever questions that they were interested in, and pair them with mentors who could support them in pursuing their wildest ideas. Over the years, FAST has proven to be an inspiring and supportive community to both mentors and high school students who participate.  After seeing its success in San Jose, mentor alumni of the program established an independent FAST nonprofit in order to expand the program to other schools and support student-driven research projects nationwide.