{"id":166173,"date":"2026-06-09T08:49:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=166173"},"modified":"2026-06-09T08:49:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:49:32","slug":"the-perfect-pair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2026\/06\/09\/the-perfect-pair\/","title":{"rendered":"The perfect pair"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As a child growing up in Fairborn, Matt Cline hid holes in his shoes by coloring the toes of his white socks black with a marker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Today, the 2018 Wright State University marketing graduate is sharing that experience through his new children\u2019s book \u2014 while helping thousands of children gain confidence through his nonprofit organization, Just a Pair of Shoes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMiles and the Magic Shoes\u201d tells the story of a young boy who is bullied at school because of the condition of his sneakers. While the story mirrors Cline\u2019s childhood, he chose not to make himself the focus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI didn\u2019t want to name it Matt and the Magic Shoes because I didn\u2019t want it centered around me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The book\u2019s main character receives a pair of shoes from his teacher, a tribute to educators who often step in to help students in need.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt highlights teachers because we hear stories all the time when we go to these schools where a teacher gave a pair of shoes to a kid,\u201d Cline said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That belief drives Just a Pair of Shoes, which has distributed more than 4,000 pairs of shoes to children, making a significant impact on their lives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Most recently, Cline brough the nonprofit\u2019s mission to Bethel Elementary School, where 14 third- and fourth-grade students received new Nike sneakers and socks. They were welcomed by Bethel High School football players, coaches and volunteers before lacing up their new shoes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Carrie Jones, a 2000 Wright State alumna and principal at Bethel Elementary, said Cline\u2019s message resonates with students. She also appreciates that Cline emphasizes strong academics and promotes literacy by donating writing materials for students and copies of his book to the school library.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe are blessed in our community that we don\u2019t have a great need like some schools do, but there are still some families that struggle,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWe partner with a bunch of people, including Matt, to bring them whatever they need.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Cline said he sees a noticeable difference in students\u2019 confidence after they put on their new shoes, and that transformation is what Just a Pair of Shoes is all about.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you come to one of our events, you realize it\u2019s much more than a pair of shoes,\u201d he said, \u201cIt\u2019s confidence in a bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMiles and the Magic Shoes\u201d is available for purchase on Amazon.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matt Cline ’18 is sharing his experiences through his new children\u2019s book \u2014 while helping thousands of children gain confidence through his nonprofit organization, Just a Pair of Shoes. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":166175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4309,748,2025,725,727,715,4908,720],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-association","category-business","category-community-service","category-home-news-sidebar","category-homepage-photos-and-video","category-news","category-supply-chain-management-marketing-and-management","category-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166173"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":166187,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166173\/revisions\/166187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}