BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — To describe Jordan Daniels in just a few words would not do her legacy justice.
Buffalo Collegiate Charter School head of school, Brian Pawloski said, "Anytime she walked up, it was like superstar walked into the building. The kids would gravitate to her, she would walk to hallways and make sure that everybody was on their top game."
Community members shared more about Jordan, who was one of three victims of a house fire on the Fourth of July, Thursday afternoon.
The fire started at their home on Huntington Avenue, early Monday morning.
Pediatrician Dr. Jonathan Daniels died, along with two of his daughters Jordan and her sister, Jensen who was 23 years old.
PREVIOUS STORY: Prominent pediatrician being remembered after being killed in North Buffalo house fire
Known as a light and genuine human being, Jordan, who had walked this earth for just 27 years, leaves a gaping hole in many hearts; in not just her family's, but the Buffalo education system.
"When I came on staff here at Buffalo Collegiate, the warmth, the grace, the openness in which she welcomed me here will forever live with me," Buffalo Collegiate Charter School community engagement coordinator, Jennifer Whitson said. "The bond that we had is that we were in the same sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. We always had this saying that 'you always wanted to be this soror soar'. She was that, she was that light."
Daniels also had a special bond with her students.
"The girls loved here. The boys too but the girls, they just loved Miss Daniels. Her favorite saying for the girls 'Miss Mamas'. The girls just loved her and adored her because she was so welcoming and she was so trendy," Whitson said. "Jordan always was fair. She was always open. When days where I may not been able to necessarily be open, to see things in a better light, she always found a better way, a better light to see things in situations and people, to see the better in everyone."
She began with volunteering her time before being hired at Buffalo Collegiate Charter School in the spring of 2018.
Daniels was the operations fellow at the school.
At the time, she was a recent graduate of Baldwin Wallace University, a private university in Ohio. To honor staff and their alma mater, Buffalo Collegiate
Pawloski said, "She was a co-founder and in very many ways, so much like the face of the school within the community. She did a lot of work to be able to meet our families, whether it was canvassing, whether it was going to community centers, following up with families, going to their houses to recruit them.">
The 2013 Buffalo Academy of Sacred Heart alum worked her way up to become the assistant dean of students, at the Charter School.
Pawloski said, "She thought that all students should be able to get access to excellent schools that prepared them for college."
Both Brian Pawloski and Jennifer Whitson tell me all is not lost.
While Jordan Daniels has passed on from this lifetime, her spirit will live on in the halls of Buffalo Collegiate Charter School.
Last spring, the Charter School put together a piece for Women's History month, involving students and staff. Jordan Daniels makes an appearance in this video:
A balloon release took place Thursday evening in remembrance of Jordan's father, Dr. Jonathan Daniels, who was a prominent Buffalo doctor. He died in the house fire as well.
