Philadelphia vice principal goes viral for the bond he shares with students
PHILADELPHIA - A vice principal from West Philadelphia is going viral for all the right reasons.
His name is Arnold Ford, and he’s creating a bond and a safe space for his loving students at Mastery Charter Mann Elementary.
The school is equipped with newly installed security cameras that can capture a wide range of things. Recently, they’ve been capturing adorable acts of kindness and caring from Vice Principal Ford.
"We’ve been doing this for years," Arnold explained. "The interactions that you see on the cameras, we’ve been doing that for years. It started as a joke. One day something funny happened and I decided to pull the footage and, you know, it birthed kind of a movement."
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Those in the video center started to notice all the happy hallway hugs and decided to post the positive interactions on social media. This way, the public could see that in a city where kids close to schools often find themselves in harm’s way, they also find themselves at arm’s length of someone who really cares about them.
"I actually love Mr. Ford. He’s the nicest vice principal, and he’s my favorite. I am actually best friends with him," one student explained.
Outside the school on 54th Street, the ‘No Parking’ signs have long since faded. Inside, the smiles are as bright as the futures thanks to the constant reminder from Mr. Ford that school can be safe, fun, and filled with happiness.
"Over 90-95% of things that happen in our schools, they really are positive, they’re joyful, they’re full of love," Ford explained. "So my goal is just to promote that side of education, because that really is the vast majority of what we see."