The following letter was in our local paper, written by 10 freshmen from the Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah School District in Wisconsin:
We wanted to share an experience we had recently while celebrating during our homecoming week. On the night of our dance, ten of us went to dinner at an area restaurant , The Lake Street Café. As the SCCA regional races were in our area, the restaurant was very full. We were sure some tables initially were not thrilled when ten teenagers walked in the room as they were planning to have a nice, quiet dinner at a very nice restaurant. We realized this and tried to act accordingly. We even had tables around us involve us in conversations.
We had a great dinner, but the best part came when the bill arrived…or should I say didn't arrive. At the end of the meal we were told by our waitress that dinner for all ten of us was paid for by another customer in the restaurant. We thought "Wow! This stuff only happens in movies!" When we asked why, the waitress told us the person was so impressed at how responsible, respectful, and well-mannered we were, they wanted to recognize the behavior.
When we told our superintendent about the incident, she contacted the owner at Lake Street to get her version of the story, and it matched. The family who purchased our dinner was just so impressed to see a group of students acting in a mature manner, talking politely, not using profanity, that they thought we deserved a nice surprise. Boy! Were they right about the nice surprise!
For years we have had our parents, teachers, and principals talk to us about making the right choices, since what we do reflects so much of who we are. While we knew they were right, we didn't always take this advice to heart. But when total strangers acknowledged our actions when we made the right choices, it was almost like an "epiphany" to us. People really do notice what we do, what we say, and how we act. We are representatives when we go out in the community – we represent our family, our community, our school, and teenagers as a whole.
We would like to take this opportunity to share this story for two reasons. One, to thank this generous family, and two, to let you know that what you say to us, think of us, etc. does make an impact. Even if we hadn't gotten a free meal, to hear those positive comments made us feel good, and this is a feeling we would like to have happen again.
The point we would like to stress is this: while much of a kid's education happens in school, it doesn't end there. We found out there are "teachers" all around us who can help teach us, shape our behavior, etc. It's been said that it takes a whole community to raise a child; we guess our story illustrates this point well.
Again thank you SCCA visitor for your kind and generous act! It really was noted and appreciated!
Ten very grateful students,
Luke, Ollie, AJ, Alex, Tyler, Devin, Cody, Austin, Derek, and David