Do Something

Nominate an Integrity Icon

Nominate as many people as you want for Integrity Icon Philly 2020 here.

You can nominate anyone—except for elected officials—whose salary is paid by city taxes: educators; police officers and firefighters; court employees; assistant district attorneys and public defenders; public health and social service workers; and workers in the myriad city departments you may encounter in your dealings with government—or even those only known to their colleagues.

Nominate someone who is respectful and caring; knows their work makes a difference to people’s lives; acts in a trustworthy and transparent way to solve problems the best they can; treats everyone equally, without regard to politics or influence; and goes above and beyond to provide good service to Philadelphians.

The nomination button for America's first Integrity Icon competition

Connect WITH OUR SOCIAL ACTION TEAM


LEARN MORE

About Integrity Icon

According to the founders, “A lack of integrity – which leads to corruption, inequality and insecurity – is a global challenge. Ordinary citizens often feel helpless in the face of graft and mismanagement. There is a need to encourage champions of integrity, which builds public trust. Integrity Icon inspires a new generation of responsible leaders and creates a sense of positive agency.”

The project was founded in Nepal in 2014 and then spread to Liberia, and is now active in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Mali, South Africa and Mexico. And we’re bringing it to Philly!

Learn more about how the whole process works—read the verification process and eligibility requirements and check out past winners (on the home page for each country).

Love a Teacher?

Nominate them for Integrity Icon, and let the whole city celebrate them for going above and beyond their job

Love a Teacher?

Nominate them for Integrity Icon, and let the whole city celebrate them for going above and beyond their job

BY Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

Mar. 11, 2020

Print

Talk to any parent in Philadelphia, and you’re bound, eventually, to get to the topic that’s always top of mind for those raising children in the city: schools.

Talk to them long enough to get past the usual worries and you’ll likely find yourself hearing something beautiful and perhaps (to those looking on from the outside) surprising: That their child’s teacher is amazing.

Related from The Philadelphia Citizen:
  • The columned facade of the prestigious Julia R. Masterman School, a 5-12 academic magnet school in Philadelphia.
How to Help Schools, Students and Teachers
Donate food or money for uniforms, share your expertise, provide reading help and more ways you can support schools in Philadelphia

Why? For all sorts of reasons that come down to the simple fact that so many teachers in this city go above and beyond teaching, to make sure their students learn well, live well and become the best human beings they possibly can. They are epic teachers—icons, even.

Those are the teachers (or principals, aides, school nurses and counselors) we want to know about as part of Integrity Icon Philly.

The nomination button for America's first Integrity Icon competition

The contest, open for nominations until April 13, aims to find the taxpayer-funded workers in Philly who are the most respectful and caring; know their work makes a difference to people’s lives; act in a trustworthy and transparent way to solve problems the best they can; treat everyone equally, without regard to politics or influence; and go above and beyond to provide good service to Philadelphians.

Does this describe any educator you know? Nominate them here.

We already know about some teachers whose work is worth celebrating—we’ve celebrated them here, in The Citizen. Here are just a few:

  • Frankford High School football coach Bill Sytsma, who hosts weekly Friday night hangs for his players in the off season, to give them a safe space, away from the trauma of the gun violence on their streets.
  • Central High School history teacher Thomas Quinn, leading the charge to register high school seniors citywide to vote.
  • Daniel Peou, the principal at Horace Furness High School, who’s making immigrant students and their families feel welcome.
  • Olga Torres, a health information management teacher at Mastbaum Vocational High School, who won a Kennedy Center honor for being an “inspirational teacher”.

Those are some pretty fantastic city teachers. And we know there are more like them, all over Philly. Tell us who they are, so we can celebrate them as one of this year’s Integrity Icons. It is the least we can do.

The nomination button for America's first Integrity Icon competition

The Philadelphia Citizen will only publish thoughtful, civil comments. If your post is offensive, not only will we not publish it, we'll laugh at you while hitting delete.

Be a Citizen Editor

Suggest a Story

Related Stories

Advertising Terms

We do not accept political ads, issue advocacy ads, ads containing expletives, ads featuring photos of children without documented right of use, ads paid for by PACs, and other content deemed to be partisan or misaligned with our mission. The Philadelphia Citizen is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization and all affiliate content will be nonpartisan in nature. Advertisements are approved fully at The Citizen's discretion. Advertisements and sponsorships have different tax-deductible eligibility. For questions or clarification on these conditions, please contact Director of Sales & Philanthropy Kristin Long at [email protected] or call (609)-602-0145.