PROVIDENCE – While working with fourth graders as an intern teaching assistant, Evan Perez noticed that students faced difficulties he hadn't experienced in the classroom several years ago.
"Something that I felt was different than when I was in their grade five years prior is that they were constantly bringing what they consumed online, outside of school into school," said Perez, now a junior at the Met School in Providence. "It was overstimulating them and challenging their focus ... and was also confusing for a student teacher."
The experience prompted Perez to reflect on another experience two years earlier, when he was hospitalized and underwent open heart surgery.
"One of the activities I really enjoyed [while in the hospital] was coloring," Perez said, "playing cards, and just doing things to take my mind off of it.
"That experience made me want to have a career where I feel rewarded by the work that I’m doing regarding human service," Perez continued – which initially led him to his teaching internship. But once in the classroom, Perez saw the opportunity to make an additional impact.
With fellow Met School student Adrian
Bautista, Perez co-developed the business plan for "Color Your Life," which leverages AI to create personalized coloring books for children, with the goal of boosting creativity and reducing screentime.
Last week, this business plan took place in the New England Regional Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, an annual competition held by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, a global nonprofit.
“The main idea is a kid will see themselves in the coloring book and be like, 'Wow, it’s me in that picture,'” Bautista said. The business leverages AI to not only recreate a child’s photos, but adds details, such as a rocket ship or dinosaur, that caters to individual interests.
The business plan outlines a subscription model, with a parent or guardian sending in five photos each month and receiving a coloring book that places the photo side-by-side with an AI-generated coloring page.
“The key factor is they're going to have fun, and it takes them away from being on their phones the entire time,” Bautista said.
Additionally, Perez and Bautista are planning a nonprofit branch of the business, which would partner with Hasbro Children's Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital.
The recent win continues a long tradition of success for the Met School in the NFTE competition. The school’s students have placed first in the regional competition for 14 consecutive years, and have taken the top prize at nationals in four of the past five years. Three years ago, a Met School student won at the global level.
Jodie Woodruff, d
irector of the Met School's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said that the school consistently achieves this success through an emphasis on entrepreneurial values.
All Met School students take an introductory entrepreneurship course in ninth grade. Afterwards, they can apply to advance these studies – a competitive process, with about 90-100 students applying each year and just 36 accepted. At this point, students go through a full course on writing and presenting a business plan before a panel of judges.
“I think most importantly, the mindset of an entrepreneur is what the real world is looking for,” Woodruff said.
"Above and beyond skills and knowledge is the ability to problem solve, take calculated risks, be resourceful, be creative, find something you’re passionate bout, look, at problems as opportunities, be flexible," she continued. "Those are real traits that employers want, and whether you start your own business or you don’t ... that creates real opportunity for students."
Bautista graduates from the Met School this week, and in the fall will attend the University of Rhode Island on a full scholarship where he plans to major in computer science with a minor in business.
Perez will be a senior at the Met School next year, but intends to continue exploring entrepreneurship in college.
J.D. LaRock, CEO and president of NFTE, said that the nonprofit has long enjoyed a strong relationship with Providence schools, with the Met School standing out as a particularly prominent success story.
Among schools that consistently succeed in the competition, one factor stands out above the rest, LaRock says: strong mentorship opportunities.
“One aspect of the Met School’s model, and of NFTE’s model, is our work to have mentors from industry and from the community work with our students to shape the various elements of a business plan,” he said. “All the competitors we say [last] week got really good one-on-one time throughout the school year with a mentor.”
Around 3,000 students throughout New England participate in NFTE programming each year, out of 75,000 across the U.S.
Perez and Bautista will present at NFTE's national competition in New York City this October.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
