{"id":55,"date":"2020-04-20T02:47:37","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T02:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.montgomerymag.com\/?p=55"},"modified":"2020-05-24T17:08:30","modified_gmt":"2020-05-24T17:08:30","slug":"maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/","title":{"rendered":"Maura Moore is Spreading Joy One “Meep” at a Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MCPS
Photo by David Stuck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maura Moore may have invented meeps, but meeps have been responsible for reinventing Maura Moore. \u201cI sometimes have to pinch myself when I think about all meeps have done for me and for others,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Moore\u2019s meeps, named so by one of her students, are \u201ccrocheted emotional support orbs.\u201d Based on a knitted \u201cblack hole\u201d orb she saw about 10 years ago on Etsy, Moore\u2019s meeps are small and plush\u2014about the size of a Mandarin orange\u2014with shiny, black eyes.<\/p>\n

She gave her first crocheted orb to her husband when they were going through difficult times. Moore wanted him to know that he was more than the actions that led to their troubles, and the little orb was to remind him of that. She was surprised to see it always in his pocket or in his hands, not tucked away forgotten in his sock drawer as she had imagined.<\/p>\n

Moore, a Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) teacher, crocheted a few more and brought them to school. When one of her middle school students was struggling with \u201clife-y things,\u201d Moore gave her a yellow orb named \u201cSunshine\u201d as a pick-me-up. Like her husband, Moore\u2019s student was always holding her orb, carrying it around everywhere.<\/p>\n

Moore knew she was onto something when another student asked if she could hold one while she took a test to help relieve her performance anxiety. When Moore later asked if the orb helped, the student said yes, calling it her \u201cmeep.\u201d Moore, an avid Beatles fan, loved the name and christened her movement \u201cAll You Meep is Love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since this all began in March of 2019, Moore estimates that she has made and handed out more than 1,000 meeps, which she crochets at night while watching TV or riding in the car on family trips.<\/p>\n

\"Drawing
Google Doodle featuring Maura Moore’s meeps created by Eli Martins, age 7, from Fields Road Elementary School<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After her meeps were featured on a local website, Moore\u2019s co-workers in other MCPS locations joined in the creation of these crocheted orbs. They distribute them to students, teachers and administrators\u2014anyone in need of a boost or a pat on the back.<\/p>\n

In each of her 6th grade English classes, Moore names a \u201cMeep of the Week,\u201d and the honored student gets to select their own orb from a small collection she keeps in her classroom. Recently, Moore has started choosing a \u201cMeep of the Week\u2014Teacher\u2019s Edition\u201d from nominations she receives to acknowledge of all the extra little things teachers do throughout the day.<\/p>\n

Since learning to crochet in 2008, the majority of Moore\u2019s handwork has been gifted to others. \u201cIt was years before I even made myself a scarf,\u201d Moore says. She loves crocheting Christmas ornaments as small gifts or birthday party favors for her children and once made a crochet owl for a student who was moving away as reminder to continue working hard on her studies. At her previous school, Moore started a crochet club for students to make hats for premature babies in the NICU at Montgomery General Hospital, a way of giving back to the unit where her oldest son spent time after he was born.<\/p>\n

Moore\u2019s \u201cAll You Meep is Love\u201d movement continues to spread with support from her community. Donations of yarn, Poly-fil and black eyes show up at her school and in her mailbox on a regular basis. Her meeps are the inspiration for an annual student-created opera at another MCPS school, and Moore is working on a children\u2019s book inspired by Mary Oliver\u2019s poem \u201cWild Geese\u201d about her crocheted orbs.<\/p>\n

Moore gets great pleasure in seeing her meeps in action, brightening someone\u2019s day and spreading kindness, and is frank about her own transformation because of them. She speaks of rising from the ashes like the phoenix she wears on a chain around her neck and notes the symbolism of the pearl necklace that hangs alongside it\u2014oysters make something beautiful out of the grit in its shell. It\u2019s the lesson she wants her three young sons to learn as well as all those lucky enough to receive one of her meeps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The MCPS teacher is making a difference with her “crocheted emotional support orbs.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":56,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[19,26,25,17],"yoast_head":"\nMaura Moore is Spreading Joy - Montgomery Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Maura Moore is making a difference in the lives of her students and fellow faculty with crocheted emotional support orbs called "meeps."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maura Moore is Spreading Joy - Montgomery Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Maura Moore is making a difference in the lives of her students and fellow faculty with crocheted emotional support orbs called "meeps."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Montgomery Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-20T02:47:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-24T17:08:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/LDS_7171-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michelle Blanchard Ardillo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michelle Blanchard Ardillo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/\",\"name\":\"Maura Moore is Spreading Joy - Montgomery Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/LDS_7171-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-20T02:47:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-24T17:08:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b7ae92c1967475b6544854c507e4dd63\"},\"description\":\"Maura Moore is making a difference in the lives of her students and fellow faculty with crocheted emotional support orbs called \\\"meeps.\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/LDS_7171-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/LDS_7171-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Photo by David Stuck\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Maura Moore is Spreading Joy One “Meep” at a Time\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/\",\"name\":\"Montgomery Magazine\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b7ae92c1967475b6544854c507e4dd63\",\"name\":\"Michelle Blanchard Ardillo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52753c5cefb5d8df69fc999e599daf6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52753c5cefb5d8df69fc999e599daf6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Michelle Blanchard Ardillo\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/author\/michelle-ardillo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Maura Moore is Spreading Joy - Montgomery Magazine","description":"Maura Moore is making a difference in the lives of her students and fellow faculty with crocheted emotional support orbs called \"meeps.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Maura Moore is Spreading Joy - Montgomery Magazine","og_description":"Maura Moore is making a difference in the lives of her students and fellow faculty with crocheted emotional support orbs called \"meeps.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/","og_site_name":"Montgomery Magazine","article_published_time":"2020-04-20T02:47:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-24T17:08:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/LDS_7171-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michelle Blanchard Ardillo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michelle Blanchard Ardillo","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/","url":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/","name":"Maura Moore is Spreading Joy - Montgomery Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/LDS_7171-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2020-04-20T02:47:37+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-24T17:08:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b7ae92c1967475b6544854c507e4dd63"},"description":"Maura Moore is making a difference in the lives of her students and fellow faculty with crocheted emotional support orbs called \"meeps.\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/LDS_7171-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/LDS_7171-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Photo by David Stuck"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/maura-moore-mcps-teacher-meeps\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Maura Moore is Spreading Joy One “Meep” at a Time"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/","name":"Montgomery Magazine","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b7ae92c1967475b6544854c507e4dd63","name":"Michelle Blanchard Ardillo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52753c5cefb5d8df69fc999e599daf6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52753c5cefb5d8df69fc999e599daf6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Michelle Blanchard Ardillo"},"url":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/author\/michelle-ardillo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montgomerymag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}