In a Fort Myers classroom, young minds are discovering the wonders of science and the creativity of art in the after-school program with " Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead ."
"We put together our skill sets and we were like, wait a minute, we could teach science through art and art through science and integrate it all really well," said co-founder Hilary Shore. "Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead was born," said co-founder Ryan Shore.
Both Hilary and Ryan are former teachers and husband and wife. When they started Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead, they expected to make an impact. What they didn't expect was to compete against entrepreneurs from around the country in a high-stakes reality game show.
"We had joked about Shark Tank and things like that in the past," said Ryan.
For 7 days, Hilary and Ryan competed on "The Blox," an online show that puts contestants through rigorous entrepreneur training and exercises for the chance of winning $10,000.
"You fall asleep at night thinking of what you're going to do the next day," said Ryan. "You wake up in the morning thinking of it. It was an intense week."
After a week of challenges, Hilary and Ryan emerged a stronger team and not only held their own but won first place, and $10,000.
While those prizes are worth a lot, the mindset they've gained is priceless.
"There's confidence in believing in yourself and your skill set too," said Hilary. "That's what the kids are doing here [at Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead] too. They're learning all these things, and then we have projects where they synthesize everything. All of a sudden you realize you've got all the pieces, and you know what to do. You can believe in yourself and go forward."
To watch Hilary and Ryan in season 16 of " The Blox " go to its website here.