With reality television often built around betrayal, manufactured drama, and winning at all costs, entrepreneur and former youth pastor Jon VerLee is betting that audiences are ready to cheer for something different. As host and game designer of Noble Story Co.'s upcoming competition series Top of the Class, VerLee wants to prove that ambition and integrity can coexist-and that character can make compelling television.
The new series will bring 12 college students to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for high-stakes physical, mental, strategic, and social challenges, with a full-ride scholarship worth up to $100,000 awaiting the winner and at least $1,000 in scholarship money guaranteed to every contestant. With applications open through August 17, 2026, VerLee spoke with us about the Christian faith behind his vision, why he believes viewers are hungry for heroes, and how Top of the Class intends to discover what happens when young people are given every reason to win-but challenged not to sacrifice who they are along the way.
Applications are open on the TOP OF THE CLASS website. All applications need to be submitted by August 17 2026.
Q: Before we talk about Top of the Class, tell us a little about who Jon VerLee is. You've been an entrepreneur, a youth pastor, and a mentor to college students. How has your Christian faith shaped your life, your career, and the way you define success?
Jon VerLee: One of my deepest passions is seeing the next generation of students take hold of the life Christ invites us into and live fully alive. As a youth pastor, I got to teach and see God change lives. As an entrepreneur of a church-focused company, I had the opportunity to serve the church from a different perspective. And now, with Top of the Class, it's an opportunity to pour into the same theme of helping the next generation thrive, and it's my faith that powers all of that.
Christianity has also changed the way I think about success. I'm ambitious. I love building things, competing, taking big swings and trying to do something excellent. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with that. But success can't just be about winning, money, influence or recognition. At the end of the day, I want my life to have been useful to God and useful to other people. I want my kids to be proud of how I lived, not just what I accomplished. Top of the Class is very much an extension of that.
Q: Top of the Class promises to turn the traditional reality competition format upside down by rewarding grit, integrity, sacrifice, and character rather than cutthroat behavior. Where did the idea for the show come from, and what convinced you that audiences are ready for a different kind of reality television?
Jon VerLee: It started almost as a thought experiment: What if you took everything people love about shows like Survivor or Beast Games-big competition, pressure, strategy, real stakes-but changed what the show ultimately celebrated?
Reality television is incredibly good at creating pressure, and pressure reveals people. But often the format rewards betrayal, deception or creating conflict because that makes good television. I became fascinated by the idea that courage, loyalty, sacrifice, perseverance and integrity could be just as compelling if you designed the game around them.
And I think audiences are hungry for heroes. We still love competition. We still want somebody to win. But I think people also want someone they can actually root for-someone they'd be happy for their son or daughter to emulate. The bet we're making with Top of the Class is that goodness doesn't have to be boring.
Q: You've said that "ambition and integrity shouldn't be competing values." How will Top of the Class put that idea into practice, especially when contestants are under pressure and competing for a potentially life-changing scholarship?
Jon VerLee: That tension is really at the heart of the show. I don't want contestants who don't care whether they win. I want them to want that scholarship badly. I want them competing hard, taking risks and fighting to stay in the game.
The ultimate character question is this: Can you desperately want to win without becoming someone you don't want to be in order to win?
So we're designing situations where character actually matters. Sometimes helping another person may cost you something. Sometimes you'll have to decide whom you trust. Sometimes your teammates will have power over your future, or you'll have power over theirs. Sometimes the best strategic move and the most honorable move may not be exactly the same.
We're putting real college students under real pressure and seeing what happens. We want the show to draw out their character. But hopefully the show demonstrates that being competitive, ambitious and successful doesn't require checking your values at the door.
Q: You're not only hosting Top of the Class but also helping design the games. Without giving away too many surprises, what can you tell us about the challenges contestants will face and what those challenges are designed to reveal about their character?
Jon VerLee: We want the games to be visually huge and genuinely fun. There are physical challenges, puzzles, strategy games, social games and some things that feel completely ridiculous in the best possible way. We're taking a lot of familiar parts of college life-dorm rooms, football fields, backpacks, classrooms-and blowing them up into television-scale competitions.
But my favorite challenges have another layer underneath them. A game may appear to be about strength or accuracy, but a twist in it actually helps draw out the character and values of the players. You may be competing against someone one minute and have an opportunity to help them the next.
That's what excites me most about designing the show. It's not just about "who is fastest?" We're asking things like: Who stays composed? Who sacrifices? Who steps forward when something is difficult? Who do other people trust? And when a full-ride scholarship might be on the line, does your character change?
Q: The winner could receive a full-ride scholarship worth up to $100,000, while every contestant receives at least a $1,000 scholarship. Beyond the financial prize, what do you hope these students will discover about themselves through the experience?
Jon VerLee: Obviously the scholarship can be life-changing. College debt can follow somebody for years, and I love the idea that we might help a student walk away debt-free and be able to pursue their dreams with more freedom.
But I hope the experience becomes bigger than the check.
These students are going to be pushed physically, mentally, socially and emotionally. They're going to discover what they do when they're exhausted, when something feels unfair, when someone else needs them, when they fail publicly or when suddenly everyone is depending on them.
My hope is that they leave understanding something new about themselves-not just "I'm tougher than I thought," but maybe "I'm a leader," "I'm someone people trust," or "I can do difficult things without compromising who I am."
And ideally we introduce the audience to twelve remarkable young people whose stories and dreams are worth investing in long after the competition ends.
Q: Applications are now open for college students, with filming scheduled for October in Grand Rapids. For the student who sees Top of the Class and thinks, "I'm not the kind of person who goes on a reality show," why should they consider taking the chance and applying?
Jon VerLee: You might actually be exactly who we're looking for.
If your picture of a reality-show contestant is somebody chasing followers, manufacturing drama or trying to become famous, that's not what you need to be for this show.
We're looking for remarkable college students. That could be the student building a company from their dorm room, the nursing student working nights to pay tuition, the athlete nobody knows about, the person serving their community, the student who has overcome something extraordinary, or simply somebody whose friends would say, "You need to meet this person."
You don't need a huge personality. You don't need thousands of followers. You certainly don't need to think of yourself as a reality-TV person.
You need to be willing to compete, willing to be challenged and willing to let people see who you really are. And to have a dream of what you'd like to do with your life that's worth fighting for.
And there's very little downside to applying. It takes just a few minutes. Worst case, you took a shot. Best case, you could spend an unforgettable week competing on a television show and leave with your college education paid for.
So my message to students is pretty simple: Don't eliminate yourself before we even get the chance to meet you. Apply.
