WHO’S EXCITED?
This dad certainly is, in the tenth year of STEAM Co. he’s finally off on a real mission or six
BUT FIRST
Here’s the back story (the video diaries are below)
See how a very special book found in a box of books changed everything - Nick’s journey, children’s lives, the world even
WHAT A WEEK
Just wow - 6 days and nights and 18 hour days at that - talks, missions, activities, dives, musem tours - you name it.
Check out the short speech below that Nick was proud to give at the end of week graduation ceremony acknowledging Homer Hickam’s inspiration and generosity and a summary of the five video diary entries he made that you can see below too.
Hold tight
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 to aim higher than high with their creativity and to connect communities with their 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.
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.
So Nick packed his bags and space suit and hit the sky
VIDEO DIARY - #OURSPACECAMP24
Apart from briefings, missions, scuba diving, museum tours, rockt building and eating, sleeping and hanging with the crew in kids’ dorms, Nick had one thing to do at Space Camp, to send a daily video diary back to base.
And here it is:
T-1: THE UNBOXING
When a big brown Estes rocket box arrived at STEAM Co. HQ in London, England, all was not as it appeared.
T+1 : Day 1: Books, Beer and Mission Briefing
You’ll never believe who met Nick off the plane and where he took him, for a rocket fuelling of course, but Nick’s host got a mission of his own to complete.
T+2 : DAY 2 : Space Shuttle Simulation, team building and rocket making
A friend in the UK asked me in a text message if I got to fly the Space Shuittle out from of Space Camp - of course I did - well sort of!
And Space X even joined in on the fun.
Before we made our own rocket
T + 3 : Day 3: T+3 : Day 3 : Scuba, Saturn and a Scuttled Shuttle
Another packed day at Space Camp.
Who knew you could play basket ball with a bowling ball in a pool, walk the length of a Saturn V rocket or skuttle a shuttle by not paying attention!
Listen to Nick’s episode on the ‘October Sky Minute’ podcast here for Apple, Spotify or on the Podcast website
T + 4 : Day 4 : Bbaby bouncers, jet fighters and nearly blowing ourselves up
It just keeps getting better.
Check out the sixth gravity bouncer.
Marvel at jey fighters and fly one?
And do your best to recreate that scene in the ‘October Sky’ movie.
But as Homer’s mum said: “don’t blow yourselves up”
We did our best as you can see!
T + 5 : Day 5 : Mission to Mars - coming soon
WHO'S EXCITED?
This Shropshire Lad certainly is…
Analogue Astronaut Nick practicing for Space Camp with #StarShip22🚀 overlooking the County of Shropshire, England - Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution - where better to ignite #OurCreativityRevolution?