Originally from Milwaukee, Cornell Stallworth found Harris County Department of Education and its Special Schools while researching on the internet.
The opportunity came a lot faster than he originally thought. A special education teacher, Stallworth was relocating and wanted to work with students like the ones being served as HCDE’s two Academic and Behaviors Schools. He was drawn to ABS West in his research.
“That was five years ago,” said Stallworth, HCDE’s November Employee of the Month. “I knew I wanted to live in Houston, wanted to stay at a behavior campus and this one stuck out. (ABS West) felt like an environment I wanted to work in.”
An email inquiry to former ABS West Principal Victor Keys was quickly returned, and after sending his resume and references, Stallworth found himself on the phone the same day interviewing with Dr. Keys.
The interview led to mutual interest and an offer.
“He said I’d be a great fit, and that was the end of it,” said Stallworth, who was also looking for a change after his mother passed away. “So, I packed up and here I am.”
Milwaukee’s loss is Houston’s gain – Stallworth has become an integral member of the HCDE and ABS West teams.
Now among three lead teachers who oversee campus culture and climate at ABS West, Stallworth helps champion students and staff with activities and initiatives throughout the year. He also established a staff choir, which not only performs at ABS West ceremonies and programs but was featured at HCDE’s staff-wide Celebration of Excellence in May.
“He’s a guy who looks to unite people and I did see that early on,” said Principal Jatata Hutton, who took over ABS in June 2023. “He likes to celebrate and he likes for people to feel valued and be seen.”
Added fellow lead teacher Torrey Zimmer: “One thing I admire so much about Mr. Stallworth is how much time, dedication and effort he puts into any little thing he does. He always says he kind of ‘bougie’ too and he is because everything has to be fabulous.”
Stallworth’s journey began as an ambitious teenager with big dreams. After graduating high school a year early, he joined the U.S. Navy at 17 years old and served four years. Across three deployments, Stallworth traveled the world, including ports of call in Africa and Asia. He was in Seoul, South Korea during the 1988 Summer Olympics and deployed on the U.S.S. Nimitz – the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of its ship class.
“We’re talking about experiences some people will never have and places you only hear about on the news,” he said. “But while that experience was amazing, I was homesick. I was away from my family so much and we’re close knit. It was mentally taxing.”
Back home, Stallworth had his family but still no clear path. He did cut hair – first, his male friends and then female clients. That opened a door to cosmetology school, where he graduated in 1997 and opened three salons over the next three years. All three remained open until he moved to Houston five years ago.
It was listening to stories from clients – mothers struggling to make ends meet, social workers fretting over child placements and young ladies in and out of foster care – that opened his heart to his next venture.
Stallworth became a foster parent, specifically fostering teenage African American boys.
“Nobody really wanted the older boys,” he said. “Not only was it great for them, but it was great for me.”
More than 400,00 children are in foster care on any given day in the United States. Black children make up 25% of foster care population according to the Child Welfare League of America, while boys represent 60% of foster care placement according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey.
It wasn’t easy. There were so many appointments to make and court appearances to attend. There was mischievous behavior.
But Stallworth and many of the boys built tight bonds and a stable home. He’s fostered more than 50 children and even became an adoptive parent to four boys. Two moved with him to Houston and are raising their families with ‘Grandpa’ Stallworth very involved.
“We had moments, but I still wouldn’t change it for the world,” Stallworth said. “Those kids are the reason why I’m here right now. It’s because of them. It’s because of what they taught me. We’re not just teaching them – we’re learning from them.”
Stallworth has taken that mantra into the classroom and hallways at ABS West. He learns from those around him just as much as he’s teaching and leading.
“Working here is all about relationships with your students, and Cornell is always encouraging us to build those relationships,” science teacher Stephanie Lewis-Stamps said. “The kids all love him and respect him, and he goes the extra mile for his students.”
The payoff doesn’t come right away – patience is a key component for staff members at HCDE’s campuses. But so is persistence. Stallworth had those traits from not his teaching experience, but as a foster care parent and adoptive father.
No matter the new teaching strategies and engaging activities, it comes down to relationships for Stallworth.
He remembers a former high school student – a “challenging” student – who one day asked Stallworth to help him learn to read. The two went to work and made progress before the student returned to his home district.
A month later, a teacher from his home school visited ABS West to deliver a note to Stallworth from the student. He thanked Stallworth for teaching him to read.
Five months later, Stallworth’s phone rang at 6 a.m. It was the same student, and Stallworth immediately thought the worst.
Instead, the student wanted to meet him at ABS West. He was carrying his diploma to show Stallworth. He turned on his phone to show off home improvement projects and other work he’d been doing. He pointed to the car and told Stallworth he’d paid for it on his own. The two then walked to the car where Stallworth met the student’s fiancé.
“There are no words big enough to express how I felt and how he felt at the same time,” Stallworth said. “You may not see the results of your work right there in a classroom at that moment, you may think your words are falling on deaf ears, or you may think the student just may not be paying attention, but they are. They’re listening, they’re learning and they’re absorbing exactly what you’re teaching them.
“Not only was it a success for him, it was a success for me because I felt like, ‘Wow, I did make a difference.’ Those moments you won’t find on a data sheet. You may not find that on a report card. You won’t find them in our computer systems anywhere. But having it pinned right to my heart made a big difference.”