There's nothing that gives students the incentive to do their best work more than knowing what they produce is actually going to be used ¬ -- even when the opportunity comes from an unexpected direction.

When Lone Peak High School sports marketing teacher Robert Rios started class in August, he had a full curriculum planned, which included plenty of hands-on exercises to help his students hone their skills.

He was never expecting to have to stretch his own quite so much.

However, when basketball coach Quincy Lewis assumed responsibility for the Utah County Challenge (see accompanying story on page B5), Rios and his students got the chance of a lifetime to learn by doing in a really big way.

Lewis had worked with Rios before as an officer of the Lone Peak Basketball Club, so it was logical for him to turn to a proven organizer to help with the enormous task of pulling together this all-day basketball event on very short notice.

"As we talked together, coach Lewis suggested this would possibly be a great project for my classes," Rios said.

As the pair reviewed the list of tasks that would need to be done to put on the event, the teacher immediately saw the benefits to both himself and his students, so he involved them right away.

But it wasn't without having to do a lot of learning and adaptation himself.

"Originally, this class had a sequence that I've followed for the past two years," Rios explained. "I've always used actual events to teach the concepts we cover in the course, but we've never attempted anything of this magnitude."

In order to pull it off, the teacher had to go back to school - not that he minded.

"The learning curve has been pretty steep, but it's been fun," Rios said. "I've done small events before, but nothing like this, so I had to seek out help to learn how these things work.

"I talked to people who were experts in facilities, ticketing, concessions and so on."

Then, once he'd learned what he needed to know, he had to figure out how and when to teach it.

"I had to change the order I teach things in," Rios said. "I also had to do it quicker, since there was an immediate need for the students to apply what they were learning.

"I ended up having to take the core curriculum of the class and adjust it as we worked on a particular area," he added. "It's been a challenge, but a rewarding one."

One benefit was brought home to the students during a class visit a couple of weeks ago by Ken Beazer, athletic director at SUU.

"He spoke to us about what it entails to be an athletic director," Rios said. "He told the students that when he looks at the resumes that cross his desk, anyone with the experience they've gotten here would get a second look.

"It's not just reading about something in a book, but actually doing it," the teacher said. "It would be really difficult to get students to sit through an 80-minute class writing promos for products or services.

"But, knowing that they're going to hear what they wrote when they go to the event, it's going to be exciting for them."

Rios has 61 students in the two sections of his class, and about 30 of those are athletes. For them especially, helping to organize an event like this has been an eye-opening experience.

"I had no idea how much work is put into something like this," said soccer player Lora Katzenbach. "As a player, you just show up and it seems like everything just happens.

"Now I understand how important every single element is, and how many people it takes to put it together."

Volleyball player Heather Hanneman agreed.

"I used to sometimes think about the refs and the scorekeepers," she said. "I never even considered all the other people who were doing things behind the scenes.

"I was surprised by all the different aspects that have to be organized," she went on. "There was assigning the locker rooms, arranging for the cheerleaders and dance teams, setting up a hospitality room and getting good referees."

The biggest surprise for Katzenbach was how many different sponsors involve their companies in supporting high school sports. Basketball player Scott Schwarz also enjoyed the promotional aspects.

"It was fun to come up with a name for the tournament and design a logo," he said. "It's cool to think that the things we're doing will actually end up in the newspaper."

For basketball player Brittany Davies, the biggest benefit was discovering some hidden abilities.

"Mr. Rios is good at helping us learn things that we didn't know we were good at," she said. "I love sports, but this has given me a totally different take on it."

Like Katzenbach, Davies was also intrigued by how people decide to become sponsors and what the benefits are to them. She said she'll never approach tournaments the same way again.

"I'll be thinking about the ads that are running and what the announcer has to do," she said. "I'll think about the crowd that's there and who (the ads) would be targeting."

Football player Chris Nielson said he'd never thought before about how much money is needed to host a successful event, but he also enjoyed working with the sponsors the most.

"We could do what we wanted with the assignments; it became our own deal," he said.

Hanneman's had the most fun just advertising the event itself.

"It's a good way to get school spirit going for the 2009 season," she said.

For Rios, the most surprising thing has been how enthusiastic the students have been, even the ones who aren't basketball fans.

"Everybody saw this as a process that could be applied to any event," he said. "The kids have really embraced the whole concept."

So did the teacher, who is determined to replicate this successful experiment.

"I will try to have every project be a real-life project from now on," he said.

"The kids can see that everything they do means something, and that they can have an impact on an organization or group in or out of the school."

• Beky Beaton can be reached at bbeaton@heraldextra.com.