OUR STORY

When teachers and parents voiced concerns about the unruliness in her twin sons’ elementary school cafeteria Jill Rigby, an energetic volunteer, offered to visit one day a week to talk to the children about the importance of manners. Having grown up in the Deep South, Jill was reared in the belief that manners are just as important as a good education. Little did she know, this would be the beginning of her life’s work.

Remembering to put a "napkin in your lap" was easy when Jill gave the students bright red napkins. Puppets with spaghetti-filled mouths made it easy for students to realize why they shouldn't talk with their mouths full. Jill's program quickly expanded beyond the cafeteria and into the classroom through the introduction of communication skills and everyday courtesies. While the kids were having fun, teachers and parents were pleased with the results! What began as a once-a-week commitment grew into several days a week and continued for five years until her sons moved on to middle school.

The first week of middle school, disaster hit the Rigby household. Jill’s husband made a decision to leave home that left her and the boys devastated. Just when Jill thought “one of these days” had finally come after years of school and fellowships and training, the dreams for a bright future and family togetherness walked out the door. She began searching for a new direction for her life, not knowing what step to take next. 

All the while, the success of the manners program was spreading. Almost weekly, Jill was asked to teach manners to Girl Scouts, children’s clubs, and church groups. Without realizing her steps were being ordered in a new direction, she said yes to each request. Finally, when inquiries from other local schools started pouring in, the realization that the passion of her heart to instill manners in the hearts of children was to be her life’s work, Jill began writing a curriculum that became known as Manners of the Heart. The title was taken from an understanding of manners instilled in Jill from her childhood – “an attitude of the heart that is self-giving, not self-serving; manners come from the heart, not from memorizing a set of rules.”

Incorporated in December 2002 as a non-profit organization, Manners of the Heart has grown from the passion of Jill’s heart—to raise children of the next generation with not only head knowledge to lead, but heart knowledge to lead in the right direction—to a thriving emprise that’s transforming homes, schools, and communities.

Today Manners of the Heart and Manners of the Heart at Home, the in-home companion, are being used in schools and homes across the country. Jill is a popular speaker and workshop leader, using music, humor, mesmerizing story-telling and practical suggestions to help parents and educators grasp the critical importance of life lessons. Stressing that education must begin in the heart – in the heart of the educator (parents, teachers, grandparents, etc.), as well as in the heart of the child – Manners of the Heart is determined to bring the old standards of respectfulness into a new era.

After several years of conducting seminars, writing articles and appearing on television and radio shows as an expert on parenting and manners, Jill wrote the first book in our parenting series, Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World, (link to RRCDW info) which was released in August 2006 by Simon and Schuster. Raising Unselfish Children in a Self-Absorbed World (link to RUCSW info) will be released in March 2008 and The Business of Manners in 2009. The success of the books has helped to fund the programs of Manners of the Heart with all royalties directly supporting our work. 

“Manners in a Minute,” our new radio short feature will begin airing in January 2008 on 600 stations across the country through the Moody Broadcasting and American Family Radio networks.

We continue to move forward in our determination to transform homes, schools, and communities, one heart at a time.