On Monday, October 19, professional BMX rider and motivational speaker Chris Poulos treated Head O’Meadow Elementary School students and staff to exciting and inspiring assemblies featuring wild bicycle stunts, fun personal stories, and important life lessons.

The visit was split into two assemblies: one for kindergarten students and a few second and fourth grade classes, and another for first grade, third grade, and the remaining second and fourth grade classes.

Everyone gathered in the school's gymnasium, where Poulos was already waiting for them. Students, parents, and school staff sat behind large disc cones, which gave Poulos plenty of space to bike around as he talked to them. He told them the story of how he got into biking in the first place, showing off the first ever stunt he performed at 6 years old.

He said that, even though he can perform amazing bicycle stunts like that now, he only got to be as good as he is through consistent practice.

"If you want to be good at anything — school, sports, hobbies, treating people well, earning respect — you practice doing it," Poulos told students. "The more you practice doing it, the better you get at it."

From there, Poulos covered a wide variety of life lessons: the importance of respect, being kind, and apologizing when you make mistakes and hurt someone's feelings. All the while, Poulos showed off different stunts on his bicycle. He did wheelies, showcased his moonwalk, and performed one he called "an around the world," a BMX boomerang stunt with his bicycle.

Poulos has a particular history with that last stunt, as he broke his leg when he tried to perform it for the first time. As he was healing, Poulos' coach told him he almost had it, he just "didn't jump high enough." Poulos was determined to do the stunt and took a long time to learn it.

Even now, Poulos said he has that image in his head, of when he broke his leg, and still gets scared performing it.

Nevertheless, Poulos told the crowd, "There are going to be things in life you have to do. If you give up and you quit, you're not gonna get there. And everybody's got different things they need to do, but you can do it."

Poulos had everyone hype him up before he successfully performed the stunt, celebrated with applause from the whole room.

He even performed a stunt where he rode his bike and jumped over two educators, much to the shock and delight of the children in the room.

Poulos, who is now 55, has been a youth motivational speaker since 1988. In that time, Poulos said he has been to over 9,000 schools across all 50 states. Beyond that, Poulos has competed in BMX competitions in 40 different countries.

What has kept him going as a motivational speaker, Poulos said, is that he loves the feedback he gets from students and teachers.

"Knowing that I make a difference in their lives ... it's special. I'm not saying anything that the teachers aren't telling them, I'm just another source. And because I ride a bike, kids think I know everything," Poulos laughed.

The number one thing he tries to impart to kids is "to not just treat people the way you want to be treated, but treat people better than you want to be treated.

"So, if somebody's mean to me ... I'm still respectful to them. I might not spend another second with them or help them, but I will be respectful because, to me, everybody should be respectful," Poulos said.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.