I was thinking the other day about how much more I learned from my extra-curricular activities in high school than I learned from my actual classes. Lots of people I know feel the same way, so I was trying to figure out why that is. Of course, it's really simple. I learned more from those activities because I loved them, the other kids there loved them, the advisors loved them (well, maybe not so much loved as liked them better than classes). In fact, everyone was there because they wanted to be there. It's amazing what you can learn when you have a passion for the subject. Also, those kinds of activities tend to be more hands-on, active learning than class time. It just goes to show what I already knew: kids learn better when they're interested and involved.