Ex-Razorback Mad About Teaching Kids Science (First Person)

Steve Cox
Owner, Mad Science of Northwest Arkansas
Fayetteville

I’m an old ex-Razorback. I played with Butch Davis and we were both going to ‘teach science and coach.’

I ended up in L.A. as an aspiring actor, teaching speech and drama before I came back to Arkansas and taught at Mountain Home for a while. Then Mad Science contacted me about the Northwest Arkansas territory. They knew me from a previous stint I had with them in Dallas 14 years ago.

I’m making more money doing this than I was teaching and coaching. Some franchisors bring in a million bucks a year in the big Texas towns.

We do fun, interactive presentations on any area of science. When I bought this thing, I bought a whole warehouse full of science. I’ve got everything from worms to dinosaurs to rocket science, and if I don’t have it, I can get it.

We’ll do anything from a full stage show for an hour down to a 20-kid classroom — wherever there’s a group of kids.

We’re right at our four-year mark. I have a son who is a fulltime employee and have six people who help me on an as-needed basis.

I can do as many as five birthday parties in a weekend and we often take educational programs into public schools. This summer we’re supposed to do a Mad Science summer camp in coordination with the Jones Center.

We make the best slime in Arkansas – you never know what you’re going to get. It’s different every time. It’s kind of like live theater — some things work, something don’t.

Everyone has fun, but the kids are really learning something. We are actually an educational/entertainment entity.

It’s not like a magic show. It’s pure educational type science. I tell people ‘magic is a science, but science is not magic.’

I think we’re doing a noble thing. You don’t know who we’re inspiring for the future. There are just so many doors that could open through science.

I think I’ve found my niche in life.