I am Chace: The Pitch

 

Chace told me about a really important idea he had and how he was going to need some help. His elementary school class just watched a presentation about how fishing nets were killing turtles, and he thought, “What if the nets had alarms on them that sent a message when a turtle was caught? I need to make one.”

With a lot of help, and water on the floor, Chace turned his idea into something he could hold in his hand and I’m excited for what his next idea might be. How many kids like Chace are out there right now with great ideas? How much farther along could they be if those ideas were fostered now instead of later?

SteamRocket was founded to do just that. We’re making STEAM, science, technology, engineering, art and math fun and, most importantly, accessible for every kid. We’re teaching career skills for the future, like programming, electrical engineering, and 3D design.

Learning all those things can be tough: first, you need someone who can teach it. Then you need a good computer, special equipment, and parts. Bringing everything together is what SteamRocket has done. It might take Chace a while to understand the basics. But once he starts to see how it all works, when it doesn’t just look like magic, he’ll have a foundation to build on. It may lead to a career in technology or maybe something else. But chances are good that what he’s learned will be useful anywhere.

Chace is my son, so I know what his STEAM class is like; it’s one hour a week with 24 other students, and there’s never enough time to really learn something. We’re offering much more. Remember when ‘Microsoft Office skills’ used to be something you’d put on your resume? It’s just expected now. Higher technology skills will be expected in a future that we know will have more technology, and the reality is that for many kids, SteamRocket might be their only chance at learning some of them.

We can’t be everywhere, so we need to create a mobile space we can take anywhere. We’ll fill it with computers, equipment, tools, and everything needed. To do that, we need $100,000.

The kid who takes apart his toys — he’s a future electrical engineer, the gamer — she’s a programmer and your Lego builder — they’re a 3D designer. Every kid is a Chace; they just may not know it yet. Please help give all of them the chance to make their own ideas real.