Principal Jason Smith is changing kids’ lives with one good deed at a time!

In Stonybrook Intermediate and Middle School, students are required to take off their hats once they enter the classroom. When an 8th-grade student refused to take it off, he was sent to the principal’s office. Once the young boy entered the office, Principal Smith proceeded to ask him why he refused to take off the hat. 

“He just let me know his parents got him a haircut recently, but he didn’t like how it came out,” Smith told USA Today. “I’m assuming he just didn’t want kids to laugh at him.”

With a strong desire to help the 8th grader, Smith offered to fix his hairline. For years, Smith had been cutting hair for his teammates before their high school and college basketball games. He also cuts his son’s hair on a regular basis. 

Once the parents and the boy gave him permission, Smith got his clippers and went to work. “I came back and lined him up, and he went on to class,” he said.

Lewis Speaks Sr., the school’s resource officer, said the act of kindness was nothing new at the school. He added that the small gesture was important to a person’s self-esteem.

“It could have been easy for a principal to just be like ‘hey, we’re just going to send you home for the day because you’re not going to take off your hat,’” Speaks said. “But for him to sit down with the student, find the root of the problem, and then come up with a solution. … I thought that was a very wonderful, selfless gesture.” 

When he interviewed for the principal position two years ago, Smith said that people warned him about the school being “rough” because of its location, which is on the eastside of Indianapolis. However, he didn’t let that stop him.

“I wanted to work hard – because we have amazing teachers here and amazing children – to change the perception of the culture,” he said. “Kids are 100% safe here. This is just a great opportunity to shed light on the wonderful things … we have here at Stonybrook.”