By Roberta Pennington
Sheboygan Press staff

When 79-year-old Floyd TenPas pulled into an Oostburg gas station Wednesday morning, his car was immediately surrounded by a bunch of teenagers.

When TenPas opened the door of his white Buick, he was shocked by what one teen said: “Hi. Would you like me to pump your gas?”

The teen, Patrick Heinen, an Oostburg High School 10th-grader, was one of more than 300 Oostburg High students to take part in “Kool to be Kind.”

Decked out in fluorescent-green T-shirts, the kids were charged with committing acts of altruism throughout the county.

At the Ryan’s of Oostburg BP gas station, TenPas was a little doubtful of the teens’ apparent selflessness as they pumped his gas and cleaned the windows of his car.

“There must be some catch, right?” he said after the teens refused to take any monetary tips from TenPas or his wife, Jerry, 76.

The only catch was that there was no catch, explained Oostburg High athletic director Lynda Garbe.

“All we’re trying to do is make a little difference in the world today,” said Garbe, who has been teaching at the school for 33 years.

Garbe modeled the program after a group of four young Canadian men who toured the country performing random acts of kindness for strangers with the hope that the strangers would return the favor by helping other strangers.

The daylong exercise also followed the example illustrated in the feature film “Pay It Forward,” in which characters helped other people and asked them to help three other people – thereby “paying forward” the favor.

Involving the high school students in this type of exercise teaches them more than any textbook could ever explain, Garbe said.

“It’s character education,” she said.

Students in Garbe’s physical education classes will be required to write an essay describing what they learned by helping total strangers. Halfway through the day, many of the students said they’d already learned a lifelong lesson.

Andy Bakker, a 17-year-old senior who helped move furniture from the basement of an elderly woman’s home, summed up his feelings: “It’s almost worth more than working for money, just to see how happy she is.”

The school posted ads throughout Oostburg asking residents who needed help with chores to give a call for help. Garbe also called several nursing homes, animal shelters, elementary schools and other organizations offering the free services of her students.

“It’s not just getting a day off school, but helping people feel good,” said 15-year-old sophomore Jim Kapper, who spent the morning raking leaves and doing other yard work for strangers.

Lois TenPas, an 80-year-old living in Oostburg, said she didn’t call the teens to clean the grass that had grown over the sidewalk surrounding her home, but she’s sure glad someone else had on her behalf.

“I’m a widow, so I really appreciate it,” TenPas said. “It’s really a very welcome favor.”