The kids are the biggest motivator. Getting to see their faces light up when they accomplish a frustrating obstacle is magic.

Most of the time, students have this natural desire to learn. It's just a matter of presentation. I'm not much of a traditionalist. I believe learning can be messy and loud.

It also brings opportunities for parents to get involved.

We started with a goal of building 100 boxes. There were about 10 kids who really got into it. They came in after school to work on it. There were another 40 or so kids who helped. They weren't as active, but their work added up.

Let your kids select the vegetables they want as pizza toppings.

For our kids, it's a lot. For new racers coming in, it's relatively inexpensive to get started. At the level our kids are at, they probably each have about $4,000 worth of equipment. There's bikes, protective gear, uniforms, that kind of stuff. Then we also have a trailer and a lot of tools and stuff.