While most children sell lemonade or cookies to raise money for their schools, 30 of Chicago’s brightest 7 to 14-year-olds decided to take a new-age approach, by designing, minting, and selling non-fungible-tokens (NFTs).
30 young tech entrepreneurs ages 7 to 14, who have joined the brand new after-school program Rocket Club Academy in Lincoln Park, got together to learn about Blockchain and NFTs (non-fungible-tokens), which can be photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files that use the blockchain technology to establish a verified and public proof of ownership. A famous example of an NFT you may have heard about recently was sold by Beeple at a Christie’s Auction for $69 million.
Kai from The Latin School of Chicago in front of the Rocket Club NFT he helped design
Rocket Club Academy taught its founding members to design their NFT’s on Canva, minted a limited number of them on Rarible, and listed them for sale on OpenSea. Rocket Club Academy shared the story to their 133,000 followers on Instagram and quickly they sold $386 of the members’ NFTs.
The members used software platforms Canva, Rarible, and OpenSea to mint & sell their NFTs
Rocket Club Academy matched the total raised ($386) for each of the founding members’ schools totaling $5,018. Below are the members who attended the event:
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Ebele from University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
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Ethan from William Beye School
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Hudson from Oscar Mayer Magnet School
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Alexis from Alcott Elementary School
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Oliver from Abraham Lincoln Elementary
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Mario and Alejandro from Lincoln Elementary School Oak Park
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Milyon and Trenton from Sayre Language Academy
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Will and Maxwell from The British International School of Chicago
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Ronen and Kai from The Latin School of Chicago
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Layza from Carlos Fuentes
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Josiah and Jocelyn from Benard Moos Elementary
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Cyrine from Ogden International School
Rocket Club Academy is pioneering an innovative curriculum for its members around the country both through the virtual platform and the in-person locations. The Academy’s first members in New York City had launched similar initiatives and paved the way for the newest members in Chicago to continue making history:
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Rocket Club members created what Forbes called, “the world’s first robotic lemonade stand.” The lemonade stand premiered at NJ Tech’s Venture Conference and members were the talk of the convention. They donated all proceeds from their sales to Kode with Klossy and St. Judes Hospital.
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Annabelle (8-years-old), Founded Stop and Love Animation. She has done work for cosmetics legend Bobbi Brown, Scandanavian luxury blanket company Gooselings, and Startup Squad to name a few.
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Astronade, a lemonade company Co-Founded by 4 members aged 7–9, partnered with international BBQ chain Mighty Quinns to sell their lemonade at each of their locations. Astronade pitched their business to the Co-Founder of Netflix, and he was so blown away with their business he decided to personally invest in the business and come on as an advisor.
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Leo (12-years-old), Founder of Smackers Cookies, created a signature “Woz Cookie” that caught the attention of Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak. Wozniak made a video for Leo to help him boost sales:
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Kayden (10-years-old), Founder of Growinlow Hydroponics won the 2019 Inventing the Future Award at Propelify.
“I’m inspired that these members wanted to come in on a weekend to tap into their passion and curiosity! They are so eager to learn. I’m sure you will hear plenty more stories about them in the next few years!“ said Aicha Sharif, the Dean of Rocket Club Academy and Director of the new Chicago location.
The Academy, which was designed for 7 to 14 year-olds, was founded in NYC and quickly expanded virtually to 25 states, England, and Ireland after being compared to Elon Musk’s Ad Astra on Entrepreneur.com and a feature on Good Morning America.
This is the only location currently planned for Chicago. The club keeps classes and enrollment limited.
Learn more about Rocket Club Academy: RocketClub.com/Chicago
Rocket Club Chicago’s NFT: Rarible Link