While riding a bike around the gym at South Elementary School, world stunt biking champion Chris Poulos asks the kids what they fear most.
One student describes a TV show he watched, and another mentions a movie that scared her. Towards the front of the gym, a girl says she's afraid of clowns. Students throughout the gym chuckle.
Moments later, Poulos projects some slides depicting the most common fears in the country. When he gets to the fifth most common fear, an image of the original Ronald McDonald — not the restaurant mascot we know today — appears on the screen with the word "CLOWNS" below it. The students gasp and talk among themselves.
"If I saw that guy come up to me, I'd be scared too. He's got a big cup on his nose, that dark makeup. That's scary," Poulos said, cruising around the gym on his bike. "The bottom line is, get over your fears by having someone help you. Don't make someone's fears worse."
Before an assembly of third-, fourth- and fifth-graders, Poulos spoke about fears, bullying, Internet safety and being a good friend. His talk included personal stories, such as the time he traveled to Austrailia for a competition and finished last after the crowd teased him following an unfortunate boomerang-throwing incident. He asks if the kids want to see a stunt he calls "Boomerang," in honor of his tournament failure, and the kids cheer.
He coasts along, pops his bike's rear wheel in the air as he jumps forward and stands on pegs jutting from the front wheel. As the front wheel continues to roll forward, the body of the bike swings and he jumps over it, landing back on the pegs. The bike swings all the way around and back to its starting position. Poulos then jumps back on the pedals and keeps rolling as the kids cheer.
On Monday, Poulos performed at both South and High Plain elementary schools. Many kids enjoyed the stunts, one of which included slam dunking a basketball while standing on the handlebars of a bike in full motion. But for some students, the message is what mattered the most.
"I liked the never give up part, never to give up, and to listen to your parents, and not to bully people," said 11-year-old Jack Bodette, a South School fifth-grader. "I really liked it. It was motivational, and he did some really cool stunts."
For Alec Pascoe, also 11 and in the fifth grade at South, respecting everyone was the message he said he would take home with him.
For all of the students, however, it was the stunts that drew them in to start.
"I really liked all the stunts," 10-year-old South Schooler Maggie Mahan said, "and I liked the Funky Chicken," one of the first stunts he performed.
For Poulos, a national stunt biking champion in 1990 and 1991, as well as a world champion in 1991, the stunts are merely a hook for motivation in motion.
"What I do as an athlete in this sport appeals to those kids. It's a hook to keep their attention," said Poulos. "Once I have that hook, I can talk to them about anything, and I choose to talk to them about leading better lives."
He was a teenager when he started, after a school asked him to speak about the safety of wearing a helmet while biking. Since then, he's reached out to schools throughout the country. Soon, he'll perform for children of recently-deployed military personnel. He will do stunts for the kids, he said, while covering topics to help them cope with the dangers their moms or dads might be facing.
"You'd be amazed what people ask me to talk about," said Poulos. "It has been so much fun doing what I do, and it's all because I ride a bike."
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