Integrity Icon Richard Gordon brings human connections to schools [Video]

This profile is one in a series of five, spotlighting the finalists of Integrity Icon Philadelphia, the first U.S. iteration of a global initiative to honor public servants who go above and beyond their job descriptions to uplift their communities in meaningful ways. Please read the other profiles here.

An earlier version of this article, which has since been updated, ran this summer.

Most educators do not conclude their time with students by saying “I love you.”

Richard Gordon IV is not most educators.

So on a recent Zoom check-in, it surprised none of the five students he’d assembled when he ended the call by saying: “I love you, I miss you, text me later!”

But even if he hadn’t said it, the kids feel Gordon’s devotion to them every day.

“He always tells me he’s proud of me,” says senior Jalen Paden. “I never had a good relationship with my principal …