Marlboro School Superintendent Epitomizes Kindness

Marlboro Township Public School District PK-8 (MTPS) is on a mission to continue spreading kindness despite the challenging years it has endured.

Setting a new tone under his tenure, Superintendent Dr. Eric M. Hibbs has emphasized compassion and benevolence as principles of a guiding philosophy for the district. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Brian Williams, founder of Think Kindness, was selected to be the keynote speaker at the MTPS district’s staff professional development day. Brian’s message of kindness had such an impact on the MTPS staff at a convocation in September that it prompted a continuing partnership with Think Kindness for future events. Now, MTPS is taking kindness to a whole new level with the ultimate goal of building a classroom at an orphanage halfway across the world in Ghana, Africa.

In June 2020, MTPS held a virtual hackathon event which provided teams of middle school students the opportunity to collaborate with peers to creatively solve problems using computer programming skills. For a “social good” challenge, students developed a website using HTML + CSS to raise funds for the planned classroom for the Vima Children’s Home in rural West Africa. As students worked on their projects remotely, they proudly wore “Hope” T-shirts donated by Think Kindness. To learn more about the MTPS Hackathon and read its impact report, click HERE.

Then, in the fall of 2020, Brian Williams prepared virtual assemblies for MTPS students in all 8 schools. While his message changed slightly to be appropriate for children of various ages, his consistent message and goal was to challenge each student to complete and document 5,000 random acts of kindness in just 15 days. Marlboro students not only rose to the challenge, but far exceeded it.

During his presentation, Brian had shared that some of the children living at the Vima orphanage are unable to attend school because they do not have shoes, which are required to go to school in most parts of the continent. In response to this problem, MTPS decided to hold a shoe drive. Thanks to the generosity of staff, students, and the greater school community, MTPS collected over 4,000 pairs of shoes for the Ghanaian children!

In true MTPS spirit, realization of the impact the district made during the charitable drive impelled members of the educational community to do even more. April is deemed the month of respect at MTPS, when staff and students typically will be engaged in acts of respect and kindness. In an ultimate instance of overcoming “social distancing” through philanthropy, MTPS has embarked upon a fundraising campaign to build its very own classroom at the orphanage. Click HERE to learn more about this fundraising effort.

While COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill, the leadership provided by Dr. Hibbs has enabled the entire school community to transcend the pandemic and its resultant problems by engaging in an undertaking that elevates both horizons and spirits. Part of the MTPS philosophy is the belief that, regardless of what is happening around us, we have the capacity to rise above our immediate circumstances and the capability to raise others with us. It is during challenging times when kindness is needed the most. MTPS students and staff have consistently demonstrated kindness, one of the district’s core values, and they will continue to do so, leaving a mark on the world through kindness.