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September 22, 2021 · 7 min read

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The Kindness Project to Launch TOMORROW with Word Thursdays Featuring Andes Writers

Matthew Avitabile
7 min read
ANDES -
Bright Hill Presents
Word Thursdays Online
featuring
Random Acts Of Kindness
and The Kindness Project
Thursday, September 23, 2021 at 7 PM
Andes Faculty and Staff Journal Writers
Robert L. Chakar, Jr., Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Jennifer Finkle
Founder, Random Acts of Kindness Journal
Bertha Rogers
Bright Hill Editor-in-Chief, Editor, The Kindness Journal
Beatrice Georgalidis
Bright Hill Executive Director, Project Producer and Emcee
Special Opening Remarks on the Power of Kindness
Bernadette Winters Bell, LMSW, PLLC
with
Bright Hill Poets
and more
For Immediate Release
Contact: Beatrice Georgalidis, Executive Director
Producer, The Kindness Project
[Treadwell, NY] Word Thursdays featuring Random Acts Of Kindness Journal Writers and special guest presenters including Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Robert Chakar (Andes, NY) and master therapist and podcaster Bernadette Winters Bell, LMSW, PLLC will broadcast live on Zoom and Facebook Live at 7 pm on Thursday, September 23, 2021.
To attend the event on September 23, please click this link just before 7 PM: 
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS THE CORRECTED LINK!
RSVP to the event on Facebook here.
Or visit the event on our website here.
The Story of Random Acts Of Kindness
In February 1999, Jennifer Finkle, a teacher at Andes Central School (1990 - present) wrote on the first page of an empty journal:
Kindness Chain Key:
"Remember, you as a human being are very powerful; remember, challenges teach us about the elasticity of the human spirit. Use this journal to record a random act of kindness that you do for someone else. Pass the journal to the recipient and ask them do the same. I hope you’ll be surprised to see how good random kindness can feel and hope it will continue within our school community."
The first of hundreds of entries by faculty and staff followed, filling two large journals by 2019. Finkle was inspired by an episode of the Oprah Show in which she spoke of random kindness and how it can be just as fulfilling to the giver as it is to the receiver. 
The journals contain small, heartfelt and uplifting acts of random kindness, in written form. A retired administrator, John Bernhardt, received the book and was so moved he recommended Finkle get it published; “a lasting tribute to our unique school and all of the people who work so hard to make Andes Central School such a special place.” 
Finkle partnered with Bright Hill Press to begin planning for the publication and circulation of the Andes Central School Faculty and Staff Kindness Journal Random Acts of Kindness as well as the partner program The Kindness Project.
Inspired to share the journal with as many schools as possible in the tri-county area, Beatrice Georgalidis, executive director at Bright Hill, created and produced the publishing and distribution project and promotional campaign, with associate producer Sophie Bille,
Bertha Rogers, Bright Hill Editor-in Chief, edited the manuscript.
Five hundred copies of the Random Acts of Kindness book have been printed; one copy will be mailed to each of the 69 schools in the Delaware County and Otsego County BOCES school districts, including the gift of an empty journal, and a letter detailing the “The Kindness Project” with the hope that every school will begin their own kindness journal, and archive the kindness of their respective faculty and staff for years to come. 
A video, email and social media campaign has launched to publicize the publication of the journal, and the Kindness Project.
Contributing Faculty and Staff, Andes Central School
Don Ackerley
Andrew Amodeo
Janice Armstrong
Grace Bacon
Linda Belmont
John Bernhardt
Gail Black
JoAnn Boerner
Cindy Bramley
Dori Buerge
Cheryl Butler
Margaret Brown
Robert Chakar
Dora Chambers
Tony Coiro
Barb Cole
Kellie Daino
Laurie Day
Mike DeBenedetto
Kris Dengler
Alice DeVita
Dwight Dolezel
Jill Eichler
Jen Ennist
Heidi Feltman
Jennifer Finkle
Debbie Fraine
Jackie Fredricks
Chelsea Guy
Lauren Green
Brittany Golden
Colleen Heavey
Courtney Hoyt
Dawn Kalleberg
Judy Klueg
Phyllis Kochersberger
Diane Krick
Jennifer Leaver
Laurie Little
Susie Little
Jim McLachlan
Misty LeRoux
Marylou Matthws
Ed McGee
Danny Mincarelli
Suzanna Mincarelli
Sarah Nightingale
Julie Nelson
Sandra Noonan
Wendy Redden
Glenn Reynolds
Sandie Reynolds
Teresa Reynolds
Jeff Rhone
Lynn Savoris
Arnie Barnes Schwartz
Michele Scarf
Jeanine Scinta
Patti Scinta
Alan Seidman
Elaine Peck Smith
Wayne Snyder
Jan Stevens
Morgan Sullivan
Peg Summers
Karli Tait
Tamara Titch
Margaret Tucker
Sharon Tucker
Lisa Valkavich
Adam VanValkenberg
Kathy Whittaker
Robin White
Gary Winghart
Jessica Young
Contributing Student Artists
Kindergarten
Elizabeth Bauer
Logan Barrett
Saul Bouquet
Xzavier Fickeria
Leonardo Giasson
Kinsleigh Gill
Colton Weaver
First Grade
Oliver Collins
Avery Hofsdal
Jase Weaver
Third Grade
Patrick (PJ) Chakar
Landon Colfer
Lucy Collins
Princess DePierro
Evan Hofsdal
Benjamin Liddle
Emily McGowan
Darbey Mondore
Charlie Orio
Liem Sass
Gage Temming
Kiara Weaver
Fourth Grade
Maria Collins
Lacey Green
Joseph Maxim
Myaleigh Rabon
Skyler Tosi
Abel Weaver
Fifth Grade
Juliette Bradley
Ducan Foster-Allen
Austin George
Matthew Liddle
Laney Mondore
Sixth Grade
Tucker Gardner
Mason Leal
Faith Sass
Brandon Temming
Lilly Temple
Sebastian Tosi
Jacob Ventimiglia
Jesse Wright-Bourke
This project was made possible by funding provided by The A. Lindsay and Olive B. O'Connor Foundation, The Andes Central School Board of Education, The Andes Historical Society, and the generosity of private donors and friends of Andes Central School and Bright Hill Press.
Please visit brighthillpress.org for more information.
Jennifer L. Finkle (1/19/68) was born in Southampton, NY (zip code 11968), where her father was a NYS Conservation Officer and her mother worked at Southampton College. They moved to Andes, when her father transferred to the NYS Police. She was 3 years old. At 5 years old, Jennifer was enrolled at Andes Central School. She attended there for grades K-12 and graduated as the salutatorian in 1986. She feels that Andes was a great place to go to school.
Jennifer’s next step was to attend college at SUNY Cobleskill where she received an associate’s degree in nursery education. After receiving the associate’s degree, she went on to obtain both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in elementary education, from SUNY Oneonta. Jennifer began teaching in Andes right after obtaining the bachelor’s degree and taught while working in the master’s degree program.
Jennifer is presently in her 31st year of teaching. She has taught grade 1 as a stand-alone class, a 1-2 combined class and this year a K-1 combined class. In addition to the regular teaching assignment, Jennifer also runs the after-school/summer CROP Program. She says that Andes is a great place to go to school.
Jennifer will be eligible to retire in 2 years, upon reaching the age of 55. When that time arrives, she will have spent around 45 years of her life receiving or giving education at Andes Central School. She thinks A.C.S. is a great place to be.
Jennifer married her junior high-school sweetheart, Dwayne and they have a beagle named Daisy. In their spare time they manage a small farm business. They have 30 colonies of bees for honey sales, laying hens for egg sales, shiitake mushrooms growing in the woods in the summer for farmer’s markets, turkeys for Thanksgiving and a huge garden. During the pandemic they were able to finish an outdoor wood-fired pizza oven, complete with discarded slate roof tiles from Andes Central School, in which they make prebaked pizza crusts for the markets. Jen’s Jam and Jelly business has also taken off, so many hours are spent picking fruit and making jam and jelly.
Hunting, fishing and foraging wild mushrooms are more favorite activities of theirs.
They feel it is rewarding to be able to catch, harvest, and process their own food knowing the health benefits of clean eating. It also gives them the opportunity to share resources with others.

Andes is a great place to live, according to Jennifer.
CLICK BELOW TO WATCH
JENNIFER FINKLE SHARE HER STORY
OF HOW SHE FOUNDED THE JOURNAL,
AND HOW BRIGHT HILL CAME TO PUBLISH
MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS OF KINDNESS ENTRIES
HOSTED BY MASTER THERAPIST BERNADETTE WINTERS BELL, LMSW, PLLC ON HER PODCAST, FROM HEARTACHE TO HEALING AND HOPE
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