About Us
Meet Our Founders, the STEAM Team and Learn About Our ‘Why’
Inspiring a Lifelong passion for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) .
Why Backpack Bytes?
Be it digital or physical notebooks, the backpack holds many keys to conversations with our children: how they are developing, what they are interested in, what they are struggling with and what their natural gifts are.
The backpack can hold the kingdom to your child’s passions, fears and future. As our kids have grown, we have seen challenges they take to and shy away from.
And while we have seen them fall in and out of love with STEM experiences, but we always want to feed their spark of curiosity. We strive to help them innovate for the future and create solutions for themselves, our communities, and world.
Inspiring STEM/STEAM resources can be complicated and difficult to discover for young kids, tweens, teens and parents!
Thank you for joining us on this journey to parenting in the STEAM driven digital and physical new frontier. We are here to guide one another, foster a community of STEAM loving families and share multiple perspectives to help you and your family determine the best path forward.
STEAM ahead!
Tammy & Darcy
Our Passion for STEM
Our founders have a passion for technology and a love for their families – so it is natural that they brought these together to create Backpack Bytes. Darcy and Tammy have been working on products for digital and connected families long before they had families of their own.
Having worked on mobile, gaming, educational and technology related consumer experiences, they bring a unique point of view on new products and services and how that can fit into families’ lives. They also provide insight on how products need to change to be more empathetic of the families and communities they serve.
Darcy and Tammy have been living hybrid lives as they search for enrichment to spark their kids’ love of STEAM in no-tech, low-tech and high-tech ways. They’ve also learned from their kids by trying new things and, consequently, appreciating new perspectives and experiences.
Our team is passionate about raising digital natives who want to utilize their assets for the betterment of themselves and the communities they live in. They also strive to be lifelong learners, as do their ever-supportive spouses (Tom and Dan), who want to encourage that same love of learning in their homes, schools and communities.
From coding to chatting to crafting, our team embraces a variety of STEM/STEAM products, projects, classes and activities and then share those experiences with you.
We also want to learn more about what you are doing to keep your kids and yourselves energized and equipped to tackle the new challenges along the way. We recognize that everyone’s journey is different, and we celebrate those differences.
Teachers have an abundance of engaging ideas that we thank them for every day, but we also recognize that depending on your situation, you may want other resources to help your children find ways to support the love of learning, the power of perseverance, and the requisite resilience that will allow them to tackle challenges with optimism.
We hope that the future brings a more human view of technology that does not overtake our lives. For now, we are striving to find harmony between the digital and physical worlds we live in and not lose sight of our friends and loved ones around us.
Meet Our Savvy Founders
Darcy Schuller
Darcy has always had a keen eye for creativity and innovation. Her passion for technology has inspired her work throughout her career, helping to imagine, design and bring to life digital and physical products that inspire and educate.
Of all the exciting and challenging positions Darcy has held during her notable career, her most treasured role is the one with the title of “Mom”. She’s devoted to raising curious, kind and passionate kids who grow up with an appreciation for STEM/STEAM.
When Darcy met Tammy while working together, they discovered their similar passions and parenting styles. What started with playdates at the amazing zoos, aquariums and museums in Chicago, grew into what we know as Backpack Bytes… our kids exploring STEM/STEAM through creative and entertaining play.
Darcy and her family love exploring STEM/STEAM in the wild… visiting inspiring museums, marveling at innovative architecture and having fun with home-made experiments.
Tammy DeMarco
Throughout her career, Tammy has been inspired by and sought the insights of creative designers and engineers. She is drive to find ways to bring new physical and digital experiences to life for families. She has held senior-level brand strategy, marketing, and innovation positions pioneering award-winning connected entertainment, play, learning products, and marketing experiences for some of the world’s leading brands and up-and-coming start-ups.
When she became a mom, she became a champion of purposeful play, an advocate for inspiring emerging innovators, and a supporter of future change makers. She believes that STEAM products and experiences provide opportunities to light creative sparks as well as to build confidence, dreams, and, ultimately, kids’ futures.
In her spare time, she enjoys playing strategy games, going to museums, and exploring the outdoors with her family. She also enjoys tinkering at the intersection of experiences and creativity, where creators are designing the future. She loves collaborating with like-minded families like Darcy and Tom and their seriously curious and creative kids.
Meet The STEAM Team
Sabina
Caiden
Dylan
Delaney
Our Guiding Principles
Curious
Sparking curiosity with toys, games, activities and explorations that educate and inspire
Informative
Sharing byte-size information in fun, engaging and informative formats
Passionate
Inspiring a lifelong passion for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
Creative
Finding new approaches to challenges and thinking differently
Balanced
Establishing a healthy balance of life with, and beyond, screen time
Smart
Exploring STEM toys, games, activities, and more that create muscle memory
Innovative
Creating future innovators and problem solvers
Giving
Making our homes, communities and the world we live in better
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