Teacher transforms grief into acts of kindness with a $20 challenge for her students

Driven by personal loss, a Pennsylvania teacher turns grief into meaningful acts of kindness.

In October 2014, Kristina Ulmer’s younger sister, Katie Amodei, was killed in a car accident shortly after finishing her morning shift as a waitress, Washington Post noted.

When Kristina and her parents arrived at the crash site in northeast Philadelphia, she asked a police officer to retrieve her sister’s purse from the wreckage.

They found more than $100 in tips Amodei had earned that morning.

Determined to honor her sister’s memory, Kristina turned that money into something positive, using it as a starting point for spreading kindness.

“Katie was such a kind person, and I remember thinking, ‘This money should go toward kindness,’” said Kristina, 42.

For a long time, Kristina said she kept the purse in a cabinet in her living room, struggling to decide how to use the money in a way that would honor Katie’s memory.

In 2018, Kristina discovered a meaningful way to honor her sister’s memory.

As an English teacher at Hatboro-Horsham High School in Horsham, Pennsylvania, Kristina assigned her students to read Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s 1953 novel about a future society consumed by screens and lacking empathy.

The story made her think of Katie, who was always kind to others, even strangers.

Drawing inspiration from that connection, Kristina used her sister’s money to encourage her students to perform acts of kindness in their community.

Kristina gave each of her 25 students a $20 bill to fund a unique project, using $500 from her sister’s tips and her money.

As an English teacher and the school’s technology coach, she encouraged the students to act kindly to prevent a disconnected world like the one in Fahrenheit 451.

She called it the “$20 Kindness Challenge,” and her students quickly embraced it.

One left a $20 tip for a waitress, while another knitted red caps for newborns with heart conditions to help them stand out in the NICU.

Students used their $20 from baked treats for shelter animals to buy food and toiletries for those in need.

One student started a tradition of handing out doughnuts to strangers while visiting family in the Midwest.

Encouraged by the impact, Kristina expanded the $20 Kindness Challenge to another class the following semester.

“More people started hearing about it, and pretty soon people were asking if they could donate to the cause,” she said. “I’d come to school and find $20 in my mailbox,” she said.

Now, she runs the challenge twice a year, compiling students’ video clips into a montage.

Since the project began, students have spent over $7,000 on acts of kindness, and the school has established a fund to support ongoing donations.

When teaching ninth grade, Kristina says the project challenges the stereotype that teenagers are indifferent.

Each year, she becomes emotional watching her students’ videos and seeing their compassion in action.

Sydney Cassel has participated in the $20 Kindness Challenge five times, even after moving on from Kristine’s class.

Her first act of kindness was using the money to buy holiday cards and write messages for veterans in a care home.

“I loved knowing that what I wrote to each veteran would make them smile,” she said.

Since participating in the $20 Kindness Challenge, Sydney and her friend Mackenzie Bombas, both 16, have continued spreading kindness by baking treats for teachers twice a year.

Initially skeptical about the impact of $20, Sydney realized that even small gestures can make a difference.

For sophomore Rachel Jasner, participating in two kindness projects was a highlight of her first year.

The 15-year-old and two other students created homemade bookmarks with encouraging messages for the library. They made blankets for dogs at a local shelter using $20 of fleece fabric.

“Because of Mrs. Ulmer, I’m always looking for ways now to do little things to make people feel good,” Rachel said, adding that helping others takes little time. Still, it’s a rewarding experience that quickly becomes addictive.

Kristina often reflects on how her sister would have reacted to her students’ acts of kindness, believing she would have been thrilled to see the tip money used for good.

“I personally feel that this helps Katie live on. It’s almost like she’s here with me every semester when I do this,” she concluded.

Here’s a quick news about Kristina Ulmer’s $20 kindness challenge in memory of her sister via 6abc Philadelphia: