In a rural Texas school district, high school students spent a full academic year building real companies from scratch, culminating in a sold-out pitch night where $21,000 in seed money and scholarships were awarded. The results, detailed in a recent episode of The Building Texas Show, highlight how a national curriculum called INCubatoredu is reshaping entrepreneurship education at Fredericksburg High School.
Jason Roemer, a 27-year business educator at the school, built Fredericksburg ISD’s INCubatoredu program, developed by Uncharted Learning. In its first year, Roemer recruited more than 30 local business owners, board advisors, and judges into the classroom and guided six student teams through building real businesses, from idea to public pitch. The program raised $20,000-$25,000 through community fundraising, money Roemer says stays entirely in the classroom, on top of his teacher’s salary, within a Texas school finance system that pulls funding back out of rural districts.
The volunteer bench reads like a cross-section of the local economy. David Pedragon, who built and later sold Dogology, a Main Street pet store, mentors students on failure and pivoting. Chad Myers, CEO of Core Javelina Holdings, manufactures and distributes rubber components used on an estimated 90% of new-build airbag suspension systems for 18-wheelers, from a facility just outside Fredericksburg. Dan Kemp, CEO of Security State Bank, talked to students about a different kind of ambition: “I’m not an entrepreneur, I’m an intrapreneur. I look to grow my business every day.” Central Texas Electric CEO Mr. Hinojosa taught project management, and rancher Sam Sage of Hillside Beef rounded out the mentor team.
Roemer credits the model, not himself, for the results. “The coach is only as good as the players,” he said. “We’ve been blessed with a tremendous team of volunteers, starting with David Pedragon and going all the way down.” His education career, he added, has been rejuvenated by the program and the way students have responded.
Heading into year two, the program has roughly doubled its volunteer pool, helped along by Caroline, a student from the winning pitch team who asked to return as a mentor the day after the contest. Roemer is also in talks with Fredericksburg’s Chamber of Commerce about a permanent Main Street presence for the program and has shared the model with educators in Hondo, Dripping Springs, and College Station who are considering it for their own districts.
The implications extend beyond one Hill Country town. INCubatoredu offers a year-long course where students develop, build, and pitch a real business to community judges instead of studying from a textbook. Fredericksburg’s success shows the model can work in a rural district, where local business owners provide mentorship and seed capital. If other Texas districts adopt it, the program could seed a new generation of entrepreneurs while strengthening ties between schools and local economies.
As Roemer put it, the program has made the classroom feel new again after 27 years in education. For districts seeking to boost career readiness and community engagement, Fredericksburg’s debut offers a concrete example of what students can achieve when given the tools, mentorship, and a stage.
