"The kids sat silent and still, listening to every word.

There was no talking. No playing with their hands. No fidgeting.

The presence of Yankee first baseman Mark Teixeira just feet from them - and the $1 million he donated to their Harlem RBI Dream Team campaign --- had turned the pre-teens and teens at the Wednesday afternoon press conference at Yankee Stadium into perfect kids.

Or maybe Harlem RBI did that.

Teixeira's donation is earmarked toward a $90 million, 50,000 square-foot project that will include a permanent home for Harlem RBI's DREAM Charter School, a community center, 87 units of low-income housing, and a rebuilt city park.

"I look at my own kids at home," Teixeira said. "They're 5 [years old] and 3 and 8 months, and I can sleep well at night knowing they're going to have the opportunity to make whatever out of their lives that they want. They're going to be able to go to school. They're going to be able to play sports. They're going to have leaders in their lives that they can look up to.

"And what we're doing at Harlem RBI ... is giving that opportunity to kids in Harlem."

Teixeira, off to one of the finest starts in his career with four home runs and 10 RBI in just five games, is not just a hero on the field, but one off it as well, said some of the kids at the press conference.

"It means a lot," said Brian Paulino, 17. "He's helping us."

Harlem RBI helped Paulino get into St. Raymond's High School, the junior said.

"That's what Harlem RBI let's you do --- stay out of trouble," he said. "[It's made] a big impact. I've been in it since I was 6 years old.

"If I hadn't been in RBI, I wouldn't be the man I am today."

Harlem RBI will have to come up with $20 million to finance the project, with Texieira assuming responsibility for raising half of that total. The other $70 million will come from city funding and financing.

The specific site for the project will be announced early next month with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, according to Richard Berlin, executive director of Harlem RBI."