Mission Statement:

Rock-It Science is a nonprofit organization that sparks, nurtures and develops young people’s enthusiasm and ability to learn science successfully. The primary focus of Rock-it Science is to provide science enrichment classes to underserved and at-risk youth.

History:

John McChesney, one of the co-founders of Rock-It Science, is a robotics engineer and a father of four. His participation in classrooms began when he assisted his children with a variety of classroom science projects because science and problem solving were not being sufficiently emphasized at their school.

In the process, he realized that most schools find it challenging to implement innovative science lessons. Since that time he has devoted most of his time to creating a long-term project to resolve this situation in our schools.

John's desire to spread the use of his unique science lessons ultimately led him to create Rock-It Science. Meet our founder (video)

More about the History of Rock-it Science

Facilities:

Our facility in Santa Clara has classroom, warehouse and office space. This is also where John develops and tests new lessons.

Programs:

Rock-It Science currently has three programs to help fulfill its mission:

• In-Class Instruction
• Summer Programs and Camps
• Homeschool Science Classes

We have been very successful in partnering with organizations that enable us to offer and deliver our educational services at significantly reduced cost, to schools, programs, and organizations that predominantly serve students from lower income communities. These targeted projects have enabled many children to gain access to our engaging science curriculum who otherwise would not get the chance.

Our sincere thanks to our partners at the House Family Foundation, Noyce Foundation, and Tessera Technologies for funding our programs in underserved areas.

Accomplishments:

Rock-It Science, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization, has 18 years of achievement in sparking young people's enthusiasm and ability to learn science successfully. Since 1987, Rock-It Science has:

• Served over 100,000 kindergarten through middle school children.
  
• Created more than 200 highly tested and successful experiments.
  
• Brought science directly to the kids at Boys and Girls Clubs, scouting groups and YMCAs with our mobile science lab.
  
• Mentored hundreds of elementary and middle school teachers in our unique science instruction techniques.
  
• Conducted a NASA-sponsored program at Moffett Field that served 10,000 kids each year.
  
• Provided 23 half-day summer camp programs serving over 700 kids in 2004.
  

Goals:

Our immediate goals are to expand and improve our existing programs. Our long term goal is to make our programs effective on the national level. In order to become self-sufficient, we plan to produce a wide range of books, videos, and classroom kits and materials used in our experiments, then make them widely available to schools, teachers, PTA's and other interested groups via direct mail and the Internet.

Funding:

Rock-It Science's work in underserved schools has been made possible through supporting grants from The House Family Foundation, The Moore Family Foundation, Tessera Technologies, Community Foundation of Silicon Valley, the Robert Brownlee Foundation, the Guidant Foundation, Mountain Winery, and generous donations from numerous individual donors. These funds, along with in-kind donations from many sources, make it possible to deliver over 10,000 student-hours of instruction annually and teach teachers how to make science compelling and engaging for our children.

Please find a way to help us achieve our goals. Your donation to Rock-It Science today will help create tomorrow's Madam Curie, Einstein, and Galileo. For information on how to donate to Rock-It Science contact us today.