12/09 Newark Memorial STEAM Fair

Our very first STEAM Fair was hosted on December 9, 2023! After a whole month of preparation, our team was finally able to experience all of our hard work come to life. Anticipation and nervousness filled the air, but the turnout surpassed anything we dreamed of prior — a total of 475 attendees flooded in, shattering our initial goal of 250, and more than 100 participants were with us as we launched the rocket during the event. The event proved to be a resounding success as we achieved our goal of showcasing to our community the correlation of STEAM and fun, as well as inspiring many future STEAM students of Newark.

The fair featured a total of 16 booths and activities, each offering a unique and engaging experience. 

Main Information Booth - we had a pin maker, where kids were able to make their own pins either using their own design or the Newark Rocket Project team logo. 

Food Booth - we offered a variety of holiday cookies and space juice, where dried ice was added into the option of Kool-Aid or lemonade to create a smoky and fizzy effect.

Fire Demonstration Booth - different chemicals were used to transform flames into different colors, such as pink, red, blue, and green. 

Railgun Display Booth - demonstrated a metal ball moving along a path using the powers of magnetism. 

The stomp rocket competition booth - kids tried to make stomp rockets go as high as possible, one of the biggest hits

Space Art Booth - graffiti planet art 

Crafts Booths - straw rocket-making, makeshift telescopes

Structure Building - using marshmallows and toothpicks and a booth for scratch-coded tractors. 

Thank you to the following special guests, including other STEAM clubs from Newark Memorial High School. 

NMHS Rocketry Team - showcased their achievements and history in the American Rocket Challenge with a display that included old rockets and numerous awards from previous years, while also hosting a crafts booth focused on constellations. 

NMHS Robotics Team - demonstration booth, showing off the creations that they've worked diligently on the past months. 

Ohlone College's science department also brought out two booths, creating more diverse experiences within the fair.

The climax of this entire event was the mid power rocket launch. All of their hard work paid off as the rocket was successfully launched. The cheers and applause from the audience that came after echoed the success of this truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. A raffle added an element of suspense as one lucky winner had the honor of pressing the launch button to launch the rocket.

We'd like to conclude this post by extending a heartfelt thanks to all of our attendees whose presence and support made this event an unforgettable success. A special appreciation to the members who worked hard to make this event happen, the guests who were able to bring their own booths, and thank you to Zak the Rocketman, our MVR (most valuable rocket(eer)) who was willing to dress up in a rocket costume as our mascot and helped hype up everyone in attendance of the event. We hope that through our STEAM Fair, everybody was able to have a fun and memorable experience, discovering the connections between science, technology, engineering, and math with art and fun. Thank you all for being a part of this chapter of the Newark Rocket Project team.

Go and check out this amazing YouTube Video of our STEAM Fair that was created fully by one of our member’s parents, Cary Knoop!