WHO’S EXCITED?
Ten years ago this year…
The Guardian newspaper in the UK described STEAM Co. co-founder Nick Corston as a ‘man on a mission’ for wanting to inspire his and others’ children with creativity and connect communities with schools, when he launched our non-profit community enterprise on the stage at the Royal Institution in London, where Michael Faraday had first demonstrated the principles of electro-magnetism that would bring us the electic car, among other innovations.
Well this latest is a mission like no other.
WATCH THE FILM BELOW…
WHAT’S IN A BOOK?
Nearly ten years ago, Nick’s octogenarian dad found a signed copy of a book in the Oxfam bookship that he volunteered in in a small country town, Ludlow in Shropshire, England.
He said it was the “best book he’d ever read”, and passed it to Nick who sat on it for a while, well until he’d visited the New York Maker Faire where he picked up a high pressure paper rocket launcher and put two and two together to boost his work with STEAM Co.
As the film here shows, Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam tells the story of four young boys living in the late 1950’s in a dead end coal mining town in West Virginia and who didn’t want to be miners, seeing it as a dying industry.
One October Night they’d looked to the sky, seen the Sputnik satellite and were inspired to learn to make initially dangerous but increasingly incredible rockets and almost blowing themselves up a few times.
After university and a drafting to the Vietnam war (documented in other books) Homer went on to work for NASA on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station and is an active commentator on the space race to this day.
Homer gave Nick and STEAM Co. permission to take the story to the upcoming Camp Bestival, where we had been given a daily stage show slot and a rocket making area.
OUR ROCKET KIDS
That Camp Bestival slot was so popular that STEAM Co. took the show on the road as #OurRocketKids Session and have since worked with hundreds of schools and communities right across the UK, literally from Land’s End to John O’Groats, Cornwall to Cardiff, Birmingham to Belfast and Liverpool to London.
The session consists of an all school assembly that talks to children about the importance of reading, how books change lives, encourages them to find their passion in life - their art - and to aim higher than high by sharing Homer’s Rocket Boys story.
This is followed by hands on creative workshops including paper rocket making/firing, cardboard modelling and coding.
Before a real dynamite rocket launch at home time to get the whole community buzzing.
We’re delighted to report that 100% of head teachers we have worked with say they’d recommend the session.
There’s no better feedback!
#OUR MILLION
There’s only one Nick (which some people might say is not a bad thing!).
But for our work to have greater, lasting impact we want to get more STEAMsters like Nick and our Pop-Up Creativity Day Art Trucks on the Road as you can see in the film here that tells STEAM Co.’s back story.
We want to Raise a Million Quids to Inspire a Million Kids to Aim Higher than High, powered by Their Creativity and Our Communities.
By getting up to twenty STEAMsters and trucks on the road, the first in Shropshire, Yorkshire and Cornwall to trial the concept and prove we can scale Nick.
#OUR CREATIVITY REVOLUTION
We were delighted when we were approached by the McLaren F1 team and one of their sponsors with an offer to put our logo on the front of their cars at the British Grand Prix and to make a film about our work to ignite #OurCreativityRevolution by raising/inspiring #OurMillion.
#OUR SPACE CAMP 24
Our Collaboration For Creativity with McLaren was exciting enough but we were literally over the moon when Space Camp USA offered Nick a trip and travel bursary to visit their world renowned centre and course.
Homer Hickam sits on their board at their location with the National Space and Rocket Centre at 1 Tranquility Base, Huntsville, Alabama and had mentioned Nick to them.
At the time of writing Nick is packing his bags and space suit
