A class of third-graders at Liberty International Studies Elementary School rushed into their gym, which was lined yesterday with hundreds of still-unopened shoeboxes, resembling a studio-set brick wall. A teacher crouched down, meeting the students at eye level, and provided instructions.

	Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette Carae Washington, left, and Molly Westbrook, right, kindergartners at Liberty International Studies Elementary School, show off their new shoes yesterday. Click photo for larger image.

You can put your old shoes in these shoeboxes, the teacher, Abbie Silverman, told them.

"And that way," she said, "you can wear your new shoes home today."

This collection of donated shoes prompted an epidemic of impromptu excitement. Children hugged and clapped and leapt to their feet, giving the new shoes their first test drive. They offered thank-yous to everybody responsible for the moment: to Ms. Silverman, to Squirrel Hill-based Little's shoe store, to footwear provider Merrell, and, of course, to the biggest name responsible for all of this -- Oprah Winfrey.

The chain-reaction of generosity began little more than two weeks ago. Ms. Silverman, an Oprah devotee who often trolls the talk-show host's Web site, noticed a note there soliciting essays about kindness. The teacher wrote two paragraphs and submitted it. Two days later, she heard from Oprah's producers.

They wanted her to come to the studio.

So last Wednesday, she flew with her mother, Claudette, to Chicago. They woke up early the next morning, and waited in line (starting at 6:30 a.m.) for the show's taping. They learned, thereafter, that everybody in the studio audience that day would receive $1,000. Each had a week to plan how to use that money for a charitable cause.

For some, ideas came fast. One audience member had already adopted a village in Peru, and remarked how $1,000 could feed the village for an entire month.

The Silvermans tried something with less profundity.

"It was going to be a stiff challenge," Claudette Silverman said, "because as you know, $1,000 doesn't go that far, and trying to figure out the best way to use that money was kind of daunting."

Over afternoon tea in Chicago, the mother and daughter formed a plan. Ms. Silverman's twin sister, Megan, is married to Justin Sigal, son of Joel Sigal, who owns Little's shoe store. Ms. Silverman thought about her students' feet: some wore shoes that didn't fit; others lived on hand-me-downs.

Though Liberty Elementary is positioned blocks from Shady Side's high-end business district, its students fit a different profile. They come from a diverse range of backgrounds. Half are black, one-quarter are white, and the rest are Hispanic, Asian or multi-racial. Some two-thirds of the 384 students are bused in from other neighborhoods, as part of the Spanish magnet program.

"I wanted to do something big, but my bottom line is really to teach them that it's nice to be kind," Ms. Silverman said. "It's so simple. So we got the idea going."

Joel Sigal called some contacts at Merrell, the Rockford, Mich.-based company known for producing durable outdoors shoes. Merrell donated the shoes days later, after students' shoe sizes were measured.

Teachers at Liberty then planned a walk-a-thon, scheduled for 10 a.m. today, that required all students to solicit donations from relatives and friends. The final sum raised by the walk-a-thon -- including the $2,000 given to Ms. Silverman and Claudette, plus $2,000 added by Little's -- will be given to Children's Hospital, earmarked for new library books.

In classes this week, Ms. Silverman talked to the children about kindness. She wanted them to see their position in the cycle -- not just as receivers, but as reciprocators.

But by yesterday morning, students were simply ready to tear open their shoeboxes. They slipped into their new footwear as if racing to finish. Another Liberty employee videotaped the action, because the best project, once all have been documented, will allow for a return trip to Oprah's studio.

One student replaced a pair that had been three sizes too small. Another, Anna Telmur, explained that her old pair had belonged first to her brother.

"They were male shoes," she said, with mock disbelief.

Then, with her new shoes tied, she started on a joyous drill of jumping jacks.