I thought I'd revive this thread, since there was an interesting article in the New York Times on intrinsic vs. extrinsic rewards in education.
For the record, (if you don't remember), I'm not at all a supporter of extrinsic motivators. I figure if the curriculum isn't motivating them, change it so it will. With schools, it can be tricky, but most teacher's love help and ideas and materials to help them. And afterschooling works to make in schooling better sometimes.
As they get older, they have to learn that they are responsible for making learning more interesting themselves, by picking topics they are interested in for research papers/projects, looking for extra information online/library, and working with their teachers, even before/after school, or carry to a club project.
Here's the link to the article:
NYTimes Artlcle: Rewards for Students
