Jill Rigby

Jill Rigby, three sisters and a brother grew up in a warm, loving home in the foothills of the Delta in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the unofficial center of southern hospitality. Their mother shared the manners of her heart by teaching her children respectfulness, compassion and kindness toward others. Jill received a BFA in interior design and a minor in art history from Mississippi University for Women in 1977. She married in 1978 and worked full-time in the field of design until her identical twin sons were born. In raising her children she determined that respectfulness and manners would be an integral part of training them. Her family moved to Baton Rouge in August of 1989 just as the boys entered first grade. When the teachers and parents voiced concerns about the unruliness in the school cafeteria, Jill, being an eager volunteer, offered to visit the cafeteria one-day a week to talk to the children about the importance of manners. Both the students, as well as the teachers, enjoyed the creativity Jill used to convey these important lessons. For example, remembering to put a "napkin in your lap" was easy when Jill gave the students bright red napkins, and when Jill brought puppets whose mouths were filled with spaghetti noodles, it was easy for the students to realize why they shouldn't talk with their mouths full. Ten years later, there are still stories about the day "Miss Mess" showed up at school to confront "Mrs. Manners"!! Jill's program quickly expanded beyond the cafeteria and into the classroom through the introduction of communication skills and everyday courtesies. By 1996 other local schools were requesting information about the manners program Jill had created. In response she began writing a formal curriculum that has become 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." Manners of the Heart and Manners of the Heart at Home, the in-home companion, are now being used in schools and homes across the country. Jill is a popular speaker and workshop leader with her seminar, “Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World" and a series for parents and children, "The Heart of the Family Weekend." She uses music, humor and practical suggestions to help parents and educators grasp the critical importance of these 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 --- Jill is determined to bring the old standard of respectfulness into a new era.