Snappy Tomato Pizza and Papa John’s support school

Snappy Tomato Pizza and Papa John’s have joined forces with a school in Ohio to spread kindness.

Monroe Elementary School, which is based in New Richmond, a village in the South West of Ohio, puts compassion and friendliness at the heart of everything it does. In February, the educational facility celebrated Kindness Week, which was launched several years ago to boost morale among teachers, students and families.

Every year, Kindness Week takes a different form and introduces a new theme. In 2020, activities centred around building relationships to mark the merging of Monroe Elementary with New Richmond Elementary.

School Psychologist Carrie Pugh explained,

“This year, we focused more on self-care and being kind to ourselves. This was prompted by recent research articles noting the decline in teacher/school staff mental health since dealing with the pandemic.”

The two main projects for 2021 involved making care parcels for Steamboat Spring residents and collaborating with two pizza franchises to create “kindness packages”. Snappy Tomato Pizza and Papa John’s supported the school’s “kindness is our favourite topping” initiative by allowing children to write kind messages to be delivered with pizza orders.

Children also took part in craft activities, developing banners celebrating kindness, which were distributed among buildings and bus garages across the district. Plus, all the teachers and staff members were given a “kindness kit” and access to a “self-care” room with heated towels, soft music, snacks and positive messages. Then, students sent them thank you cards and letters.

Superintendent Tracey Miller commented on the Kindness Week:

“A significant portion of a well-rounded education takes place in lessons learned outside the classroom. We want all of our students to not just grow academically, but also socially and emotionally as well as they progress through their path through the New Richmond Schools.”