{"id":99232,"date":"2024-02-05T15:12:55","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T20:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/?p=99232"},"modified":"2024-02-05T15:12:55","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T20:12:55","slug":"project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Project KIND Propels UMW Alumna to Virginia\u2019s Counselor of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_99235\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-99235\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"99235\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/sarah-ritchie\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie.jpeg\" data-orig-size=\"1344,2016\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;UMW alumna Sarah Ritchie &amp;#8217;14 will lead Virginia Kindness Week through the Virginia Department of Education during the second week of February 2024. Ritchie created Project KIND, a character education program helping students succeed in school and in life. Ritchie also was recognized as Virginia&amp;#8217;s 2023 Elementary School Counselor of the Year. Brianna Rae Photography.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-200x300.jpeg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-683x1024.jpeg\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-99235\" src=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-200x300.jpeg\" alt=\"UMW alumna Sarah Ritchie '14 will lead Virginia Kindness Week through the Virginia Department of Education during the second week of February 2024. Ritchie created Project KIND, a character education program helping students succeed in school and in life. Ritchie also was recognized as Virginia's 2023 Elementary School Counselor of the Year. Brianna Rae Photography.\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-200x300.jpeg 200w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-683x1024.jpeg 683w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-768x1152.jpeg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-1024x1536.jpeg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie.jpeg 1344w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-99235\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">UMW alumna Sarah Ritchie &#8217;14 will lead Virginia Kindness Week through the Virginia Department of Education during the second week of February 2024. Ritchie created Project KIND, a character education program helping students succeed in school and in life. Ritchie also was recognized as Virginia&#8217;s 2023 Elementary School Counselor of the Year. Brianna Rae Photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For University of Mary Washington alumna Sarah Ritchie \u201914, everything starts with kindness.<\/p>\n<p>As a counselor at King George Elementary School, she envisioned a kindness club, recruited student ambassadors and invited global guest speakers who inspire others. She figured that with each individual she could reach, the kindness campaign would grow in the school and in the community.<\/p>\n<p>Project KIND (Kids Inspiring and Nurturing Development) now spans King George County Schools as a comprehensive character education program teaching skills that will help students succeed in school and in life. A hub for student services, after-school clubs, and the snack and food program, it promotes helpful and healthy connections with teachers, students and families. And it\u2019s earning statewide attention.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Ritchie was recognized as the division-wide Teacher of the Year from King George County and named Elementary School Counselor of the Year by the Virginia School Counselor Association (VSCA). The annual award recognizes an elementary or secondary school counselor who has made a positive impact in their school community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Kindness Crew has a positive presence in the community, even being established for only a few years,\u201d Ritchie said of the after-school group she runs in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.schoolcounselor.org\/Newsletters\/September-2023\/High-Five-to-Kindness!?st=VA&amp;_zs=bIVii1&amp;_zl=PujB9\">a recent article about the power of high fives<\/a>. \u201cThe development of the Kindness Crew has allowed a strong school-wide and community relationship to bloom. I have been honored to start and lead the club, and this has been one of the proudest moments of my professional career.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Educators across the state can tap into Ritchie\u2019s experience, as she\u2019s developing a kindness club curriculum and working on outreach to adults and kids, while advocating for the profession. During the second week of February 2024, she\u2019ll lead Virginia Kindness Week through the Virginia Department of Education.<\/p>\n<p>Ritchie has balanced her career with education, earning a bachelor\u2019s in liberal studies (BLS) degree, with a major in leadership and management, from the University of Mary Washington in 2014 after an associate degree in communications and media art from Lakeland Community College. As a BLS student, she took evening classes across a variety of subjects, so she could continue working, and now advanced in her career, she stays connected with classmates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s those small work groups that have stuck together,\u201d she said. \u201cThe students I connected with now span the globe, but we are still there for one another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the time, she didn\u2019t know where her degree would lead, and she credits the array of skill sets developed through liberal studies for shaping her pathway and giving her a platform from which to launch, near or far. She found her fit helping King George County students of all ages discover their career choices and published <a href=\"https:\/\/www.schoolcounselor.org\/Newsletters\/January-2024\/What-Do-You-Want-to-Be-When-You-Grow-Up-Elementary?st=VA\">a recent article on career discovery<\/a> that asked the quintessential question: \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s also finishing a Ph.D. in counselor education and supervision from Liberty University, where she earned an M.Ed. in school counseling, behavioral sciences. In addition, she\u2019s a division Social Emotional Learning coordinator, kindness curriculum writer and conference speaker on the power of kindness. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board (RACSB) and has served years as communications and public relations chair for the VSCA and is now a member of the board of directors and committee liaison.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular tiled-gallery-unresized\" data-original-width=\"1100\" data-carousel-extra='{&quot;blog_id&quot;:7,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/05\\\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\\\/&quot;,&quot;likes_blog_id&quot;:230672515}' itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\" > <div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 1100px; height: 776px;\" data-original-width=\"1100\" data-original-height=\"776\" > <div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 632px; height: 776px;\" data-original-width=\"632\" data-original-height=\"776\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/sarah-ritchie-cup-of-kindness-alice\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"628\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"772\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"99234\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-Cup-of-Kindness-Alice.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1290,1586\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-Cup-of-Kindness-Alice-244x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-Cup-of-Kindness-Alice-833x1024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-Cup-of-Kindness-Alice.jpg?w=628&#038;h=772&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-Cup-of-Kindness-Alice.jpg 1290w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-Cup-of-Kindness-Alice-244x300.jpg 244w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-Cup-of-Kindness-Alice-833x1024.jpg 833w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-Cup-of-Kindness-Alice-768x944.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/Sarah-Ritchie-Cup-of-Kindness-Alice-1249x1536.jpg 1249w\" width=\"628\" height=\"772\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"628\" data-original-height=\"772\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"\" alt=\"Ritchie completes &#039;A Cup of Kindness&#039; lesson with an &#039;Alice in Numberland&#039; tea party theme. First-graders practiced filling each other&#039;s decorated teacups with positive words, and chose to fill Ritchie&#039;s cup, as well, at the end of the exercise.\" style=\"width: 628px; height: 772px;\" \/> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> Ritchie completes &#8216;A Cup of Kindness&#8217; lesson with an &#8216;Alice in Numberland&#8217; tea party theme. First-graders practiced filling each other&#8217;s decorated teacups with positive words, and chose to fill Ritchie&#8217;s cup, as well, at the end of the exercise. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 468px; height: 776px;\" data-original-width=\"468\" data-original-height=\"776\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/high-five-to-kindness\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"464\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"772\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"99233\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/High-Five-to-Kindness.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1232,2048\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/High-Five-to-Kindness-180x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/High-Five-to-Kindness-616x1024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/High-Five-to-Kindness.jpg?w=464&#038;h=772&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/High-Five-to-Kindness.jpg 1232w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/High-Five-to-Kindness-180x300.jpg 180w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/High-Five-to-Kindness-616x1024.jpg 616w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/High-Five-to-Kindness-768x1277.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/High-Five-to-Kindness-924x1536.jpg 924w\" width=\"464\" height=\"772\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"464\" data-original-height=\"772\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"\" alt=\"UMW alumna Sarah Ritchie \u201914 welcomes school counselor attendees to her High Five to Kindness presentation at the Virginia School Counselors Association&#039;s annual conference in Hampton Roads.\" style=\"width: 464px; height: 772px;\" \/> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> UMW alumna Sarah Ritchie \u201914 welcomes school counselor attendees to her High Five to Kindness presentation at the Virginia School Counselors Association&#8217;s annual conference in Hampton Roads. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <\/div> <!-- close row --> <\/div>\n<p>\u201cAs a school counselor, she brings a deep understanding of the mental health issues affecting our community and a wealth of knowledge about needs and resources,\u201d said RACSB in a news story.<\/p>\n<p>Ritchie\u2019s work as a school counselor in King George spans nearly a decade.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile her r\u00e9sum\u00e9 lists many \u2018typical\u2019 counseling activities, Sarah\u2019s impact has been anything but typical,\u201d wrote Mary Fisher, supervisor of student and family services for King George County Schools, in a letter recommending Ritchie for the counselor of the year award. \u201cIt is difficult to put into words the impact Sarah has had on our school community, but her commitment to school counseling has helped create an undeniable shift in culture and climate in her school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like the Kindness Crew that she leads, her focus continues to be on growing self-esteem, building morale and giving back to the community, and it\u2019s catching on.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For University of Mary Washington alumna Sarah Ritchie \u201914, everything starts with kindness. As a counselor at King George Elementary School, she envisioned a kindness club, recruited student ambassadors and invited global guest speakers who inspire others. She figured that with each individual she could reach, the kindness campaign would grow in the school and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":99239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[704],"tags":[15353,15354],"topics":[5147],"class_list":{"0":"post-99232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-project-kind","9":"tag-sarah-ritchie","10":"topic-service-citizenship","11":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Project KIND Propels UMW Alumna to Virginia\u2019s Counselor of the Year - News<\/title>\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.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Project KIND Propels UMW Alumna to Virginia\u2019s Counselor of the Year\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For University of Mary Washington alumna Sarah Ritchie \u201914, everything starts with kindness. As a counselor at King George Elementary School, she envisioned a kindness club, recruited student ambassadors and invited global guest speakers who inspire others. She figured that with each individual she could reach, the kindness campaign would grow in the school and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityofMaryWashington\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-05T20:12:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/NewRelease_SarahRitchie_1024x413.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"413\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amy Jessee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UMaryWash\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UMaryWash\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amy Jessee\" \/>\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\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Amy Jessee\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/142dca53fb7f86bf9c3c3391d0ba311d\"},\"headline\":\"Project KIND Propels UMW Alumna to Virginia\u2019s Counselor of the Year\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-05T20:12:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/\"},\"wordCount\":789,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/NewRelease_SarahRitchie_1024x413.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Project KIND\",\"Sarah Ritchie\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Top Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/\",\"name\":\"Project KIND Propels UMW Alumna to Virginia\u2019s Counselor of the Year - News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/NewRelease_SarahRitchie_1024x413.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-05T20:12:55+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/NewRelease_SarahRitchie_1024x413.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/NewRelease_SarahRitchie_1024x413.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":413},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Project KIND Propels UMW Alumna to Virginia\u2019s Counselor of the Year\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"News\",\"description\":\"University of Mary Washington\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Mary Washington\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/10\/2colorUMWprimarywordmark.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/10\/2colorUMWprimarywordmark.png\",\"width\":2255,\"height\":580,\"caption\":\"University of Mary Washington\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityofMaryWashington\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/UMaryWash\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/142dca53fb7f86bf9c3c3391d0ba311d\",\"name\":\"Amy Jessee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/faa627a60273dd709796862fe67f96aa695f985cd167b56554574fd1c66d9a72?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/faa627a60273dd709796862fe67f96aa695f985cd167b56554574fd1c66d9a72?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Amy Jessee\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Project KIND Propels UMW Alumna to Virginia\u2019s Counselor of the Year - News","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.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Project KIND Propels UMW Alumna to Virginia\u2019s Counselor of the Year","og_description":"For University of Mary Washington alumna Sarah Ritchie \u201914, everything starts with kindness. As a counselor at King George Elementary School, she envisioned a kindness club, recruited student ambassadors and invited global guest speakers who inspire others. She figured that with each individual she could reach, the kindness campaign would grow in the school and [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/","og_site_name":"News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityofMaryWashington\/","article_published_time":"2024-02-05T20:12:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":413,"url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/NewRelease_SarahRitchie_1024x413.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Amy Jessee","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UMaryWash","twitter_site":"@UMaryWash","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amy Jessee","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/"},"author":{"name":"Amy Jessee","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/142dca53fb7f86bf9c3c3391d0ba311d"},"headline":"Project KIND Propels UMW Alumna to Virginia\u2019s Counselor of the Year","datePublished":"2024-02-05T20:12:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/"},"wordCount":789,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/NewRelease_SarahRitchie_1024x413.jpg","keywords":["Project KIND","Sarah Ritchie"],"articleSection":["Top Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/","name":"Project KIND Propels UMW Alumna to Virginia\u2019s Counselor of the Year - News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/NewRelease_SarahRitchie_1024x413.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-05T20:12:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/NewRelease_SarahRitchie_1024x413.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/NewRelease_SarahRitchie_1024x413.jpg","width":1024,"height":413},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/05\/project-kind-propels-umw-alumna-to-virginias-counselor-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Project KIND Propels UMW Alumna to Virginia\u2019s Counselor of the Year"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/","name":"News","description":"University of Mary Washington","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"University of Mary Washington","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/10\/2colorUMWprimarywordmark.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/10\/2colorUMWprimarywordmark.png","width":2255,"height":580,"caption":"University of Mary Washington"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityofMaryWashington\/","https:\/\/x.com\/UMaryWash"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/142dca53fb7f86bf9c3c3391d0ba311d","name":"Amy Jessee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/faa627a60273dd709796862fe67f96aa695f985cd167b56554574fd1c66d9a72?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/faa627a60273dd709796862fe67f96aa695f985cd167b56554574fd1c66d9a72?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Amy Jessee"}}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/02\/NewRelease_SarahRitchie_1024x413.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 17:44:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99232"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=99232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}