NEW YORK — Nine-year-old Zachary Weber and his teammates Maxfield Himes and Mark Coron are the founders of their own lemonade company.

The company, however, is not your child's typical lemonade business: it's received an investment from Marc Randolph of Netflix. 

The trio are a part of an after school STEM program called "Rocket Club." The club teaches kids everything from robotics to coding and entrepreneurship. Students who take part in the club manage their own businesses and make money.

What You Need To Know

  • As the new year approaches, an after school program, Rocket Club, is finally reopening its doors to students, who learn to merge science and mathematics with entrepreneurship

  • Rocket Club was created by Alex Hodara in 2019

  • The club meets once a week for two hours, and takes its members through 24 months of certifications in areas including artificial intelligence and creating business models

“We all helped create the business to make it what it is today,” Weber said of his team's endeavor. The founders call it "Astronade."

“We sell it to a company for $48 per case and $2 per bottle,” Himes explained. 

“I like it because I can drink it,” Weber added. 

Rocket Club was created by Alex Hodara in 2019. As a child, Hodara said he didn’t really fit in — but he did learn the importance of entrepreneurship early on.

“I started my own business at a young age, and I started to feel I was doing something special, so I've always wanted to provide that experience for other children,” he said.

Hodara helps fund the club, which meets once a week for two hours, taking its members through 24 months of certifications in areas including artificial intelligence and creating business models.  

“We really want to teach both sides of the brain," Hodara said. "We want members to learn the STEM side and the entrepreneurship side, and how these things are interrelated to each other."

“They give you all the necessary tools you like with the instructors to help you,” Rocket Club member Griffin Blumenthal added.

Many of the students created their businesses at home during the quarantine period of the pandemic. Siblings Sara and Thomas Vichaidith wanted to give back, in addition to making money from their crocheted pieces. 

“Our business, 'Cuddliest Crochet,' we also donate a portion of our proceeds to Oceana,” Sara Vichaidith said. 

Parents said the changes they have notice in their children are immeasurable.

“It’s pretty awesome. We found Rocket Club during the pandemic, and I was searching for things for him to do at home during spring break,” Weber's mother, Michelle Weber, said. “I don’t know if he realized how big of a thinker he could become."

For students in the club, learning future concepts is the goal, but it comes second to having fun.