The story of Friends School Mullica Hill includes many exceptional people but few as iconic as Hanshi Deshbandhu. Somehow fate brought Hanshi, a woman with an extraordinary life that includes meeting Gandhi twice while growing up in India, to center her career at this small pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school. Quakers, whose values infuse the school’s pedagogy, might say that “way opened” for her to be there. She has since become as much a part of the school as its buildings and its beautiful forested acreage. Throughout her half century of dedicated service, Hanshi has come to be seen as a torch bearer of its ethos and spirit. It took many gifted hands to guide this little Quaker school from its roots in Woodbury to the present but Hanshi’s influence is distinctive. Her gracious presence, powerful leadership, and generosity have become an essential part of the DNA that makes Friends School Mullica Hill the educational leader that it is today.
Hanshi currently sits as a member of the Board of Trustees, where she continues to help set the course for the future of the school, but she first arrived as an educator. In January of 1968 she took a position as a sixth grade teacher at Woodbury Friends School (later to be moved to Mullica Hill and renamed Friends School Mullica Hill), having just emigrated from India the prior year. Her husband, Lalaji Deshbandhu, was at the University of Pennsylvania on Fulbright and Smithmund scholarships. Dressed in flowing and remarkably colorful traditional saris, she made quite an impression when she began appearing on campus in that small rural community. She remembers literally stopping traffic, as passersby attempted to get a look at such a wondrously clad person from India. “People would stare at me but I didn’t mind because I knew my saris were beautiful,” said Deshbandhu. She expressed her culture and traditions proudly and uncompromisingly at time when there was an especially heavy pressure to assimilate.
As a teacher she was no less striking. Her style was tough but compassionate and engaging. Alumni fortunate enough to have had Hanshi as a teacher often reflect on the positive influence she made on their lives. One of her former students, Cori McMahon, Psy.D. ‘89, recalled that “she was at times a bit intimidating with very high expectations but she simply knew we had great potential and how to push us to reach it.” She had an inspiring presence outside the classroom as well, earning respect and admiration from her colleagues. During her tenure, she was asked to organize and head the Middle School and then, after thirteen years, assumed the role of Associate Head until 2008 when she retired. Since 2005, Hanshi has been a trustee, where she regularly attends meetings, serves on committees, and plays an active role in the leadership of the school. “Hanshi is a vibrant and active presence on the Board. We are fortunate to have her wisdom and continued support,” said William Carrigan, Clerk of the Board of Trustees.
Hanshi Deshbandhu is a longtime believer that education should be lived and experienced. She would take her students on trips overseas to Europe to show them Western history first hand. Her class traveled to the United Nations in formal attire where they sang a song in Hindi to an astonished Indian ambassador. It is a testament to her uncanny ability to inspire her students over the years that many of them came back to Friends School Mullica Hill to be teachers themselves. “Throughout my time at Friends School, Hanshi has encouraged me to face challenging questions head on, always in a supportive way,” said Spanish teacher Sophie Ragone ’01. “Teacher Hanshi bridges the gap between so many generations of FSMH students,” said Eighth Grade English and Civics teacher Brad Gibson ’03, another former student. “As a teacher and a board member, she has been a tireless advocate for the school for many decades,” said Gibson. Middle School Science teacher Jason Hummel recalls, “fond memories in and out of the classroom, where she imparted not only her knowledge of the subject at hand but life lessons as well.”
At 86 years old, Hanshi Deshbandhu is still as sharp as ever and her name now graces an expansive red and green building that houses first through eighth grades and the library on the east side of the school’s campus. 2018 marks her 50th anniversary of being involved with Quaker education and her popularity now extends well into the broader community. When she walks into the bustling Harrison House Diner on Route 45 she is inevitably greeted by former students and parents of students who gush about her influence and her unique teaching style. “I set high standards and my students respected that,” observed Deshbandhu. “I am very fortunate to be loved by this community and to know I have made an impact on the lives of so many people.”
Friends School Mullica Hill will be holding a celebration to honor Hanshi Deshbandhu’s 50 years of involvement with Friends education on May 31, 2018 at 2:15pm in the rear of the Hanshi Building. Former students, teachers and friends of Hanshi’s are encouraged to attend. Please contact info@friendsmh.org for more info and to RSVP for the event. Friends School Mullica Hill will celebrate its own 50th Anniversary in 2019-2020.
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