For many children, the start of a new school year comes with a familiar tradition: a new pair of shoes.
It was something Julie Roth looked forward to as a child, and later something she enjoyed providing for her own children. For the past 13 years, Roth has made sure children at Leaps N Bounds Child Care get to experience it, too.
Each year before school begins, Leaps N Bounds takes children in its care to Shoe Dept. and buys each of them a new pair of shoes—whichever pair they choose.
“I remember, excited when school was going to start because I knew I was going to get a new pair of shoes,” Roth said during an appearance on the Sapulpa Times’ Timeloop.
When Roth became a parent herself, that tradition took on a new meaning.
“I knew it was really getting real. It was time to go school clothes shopping,” she said. “But putting the cherry on top, my kids got a new pair of shoes.”
That experience eventually inspired the annual tradition at Leaps N Bounds.
Roth started working in child care in 1999 while expecting her youngest child. She began developing a plan for something she could do while staying home after he was born in 2000.
Her first location was on Highway 97, where Miss Tiffany’s Child Care is now located. The business eventually grew to three locations before consolidating into the two Leaps N Bounds locations operating today.
As the years passed, Roth said operating child care centers gave her a firsthand look at the different circumstances facing the families they serve.
But she emphasizes that the shoe program isn’t based on financial need.
“It’s kind of a, ‘This is how I want to bless my families,’” Roth said.
The goal is to give every participating child something special to anticipate as summer comes to an end.
“I want the kids to look forward to something for starting school and being proud and feeling their best on their first day of school,” Roth said.
And the children really do get to choose.
Leaps N Bounds doesn’t select a practical pair beforehand or limit children to the shoes an adult thinks they should have. Roth said that freedom has occasionally resulted in selections that weren’t necessarily what their parents would have picked.
Sometimes, that is part of what makes the experience memorable.
Roth recalled one little girl who chose a shiny pair of dress shoes. When her mother later asked why she had picked them, the girl explained that she wanted to be like “Miss Amber” when she grew up — referring to Leaps N Bounds Executive Director Amber Hollingsworth.
The annual shopping trip is funded entirely by Leaps N Bounds.
“We’ve never asked for donations,” Roth
said. “It’s 100% Leaps N Bounds.”
Roth also credits the employees at Shoe Dept. with embracing the tradition. She said manager Vita and her staff have worked closely with Leaps N Bounds over the years, at times opening early or closing the store to accommodate the children.
Roth’s own involvement in Leaps N Bounds stretches back more than 25 years, but so do the careers of some of the people around her. She said longtime employees Liliana Guerrero and Amber have each been with the organization for more than two decades.
That longevity is one reason Roth doesn’t view the shoe tradition as something she does personally.
“It’s not a Julie thing,” Roth said. “It’s a Leaps N Bounds thing.”
She said the program wouldn’t be possible without the people who have helped build and operate the child care centers alongside her.
“It’s a wonderful team,” Roth said, “and it wouldn’t happen without them.”
Thirteen years after the first shopping trip, the idea behind the tradition remains straightforward.
For Roth, it isn’t simply about making sure a child has shoes to wear to school. It’s about giving that child the experience she remembers from her own childhood: walking into a store, picking out a brand-new pair and having one more reason to be excited about the first day of school.
Watch the full interview with Julie Roth on YouTube: