why steampunks?

what is steampunk?

Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retro-futuristic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery, often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or the American "Wild West" (thanks, Wikipedia).

s.t.e.a.m. is an aspirational acronym

s.t.e.a.m. is shorthand for study in the fields of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics. s.t.e.a.m. casts a wide net that we not only aspire to fill, but to unify by embracing the web-like connections of this net.

punks stir things up

Punks are youth who dare to disturb the status quo. We encourage our students to learn to think like disrupters. This is the mindset that will lead to solutions to the many challenges our species now need to address and solve.

s.t.e.a.m. and punks together push change

Assemble these together, and STEAMpunks becomes a 4th through 12th grade after-school and summer program, borrowing the steampunk ethos of a future where technology has been harnessed to work for us, and providing young learners with a once-in-a-lifetime collaborative, "anti-establishment," multi-disciplinary approach to problem-solving and innovation.