Today we’d like to introduce you to Corey Green.
Hi Corey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in South Dallas — my mom’s from Fort Worth, my dad’s from Alabama. I grew up around the thugs and the streets, but none of that could sway me because I had a strong mama who didn’t play. People laugh when I tell them that growing up in South Dallas, I was never scared of the police — I was scared of my mom. It wasn’t abuse; it was accountability. She held me to a standard. I’ll never forget the day she came up to my school during basketball practice, told my coach, “Corey gotta come home — he didn’t clean his room.” That was her: no excuses, handle your responsibilities.
I graduated from The Great James Madison High School in 2004, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year in football, recruited by colleges all over the country. But my grades kept me from playing Division I ball, so I attended Texas Southern University. That’s where I found my true calling. At just 19, I was looking out for the kids in my apartment complex, keeping them out of trouble. One of those kids ended up connecting me to my first job — working as campus security at Jack Yates High School. I might have been called “security,” but I felt more like a big brother.
After a year, I was laid off, but the passion had been lit. I called my old high school football coach, Ronald Keith Johnson, who remembered my dream of influencing kids’ lives the way he influenced mine. He got me back into DISD — right at my alma mater. Under the leadership of the legendary Marian Willard and Dr. Willie Fred Johnson, I learned professionalism: be on time, handle the kids with respect, and always represent yourself well. Tameka Staten taught me how to address community issues and work boots-on-the-ground. Back then, Madison was battling gang problems, but we fought hard and made real progress.
From Madison, I moved to Thomas Edison Middle School — my training ground for working with middle schoolers. Then came H. Grady Spruce High School, where I worked alongside greats like Leon Hamilton Sr. and Carl Richardson. When asked to help at a tougher middle school, I went to Ann Richards STEAM Academy for two years, then to D.A. Hulcy STEAM Academy, where I stayed for seven years — the longest stretch in my career. Leaving Hulcy was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made. I cried in my office every day that last week. My principal, Jonica Crowder, always spoke highly of me, even to people across the district, and that support meant everything.
Now, I’m back home — serving as the Community and Parent Support Specialist at Paul L. Dunbar under the leadership of Mrs. Alpha Garrett Jones, another legend. This is the role I’ve always wanted — in my own community, making a difference every day.
Eighteen years in, I’m living my dream: building relationships, uplifting kids, and giving back to the same streets that raised me.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been a smooth road. To date, I’ve buried 43 students. I’ve watched more than 50 go to prison. I’ve broken up fights, been threatened, and even had a gun pulled on me — only for the young man who pulled it to be killed later that same day, just around the corner from my house. I was the one who had to identify his body.
One of my saddest moments came on November 29, 2011, when one of my former students, Daveon Johnson, was accidentally killed by another one of my former students while they were in college. That loss still brings tears to my eyes. Daveon will always hold a special place in my heart.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have worked in DISD for 18 years as a campus monitor,behavior reset, and most recent I’m a community liaison and I love this position cause I can help families in the same neighborhood that helped mold me into a great men so I hope to do for the next generation that so many did for me
What was your favorite childhood memory?
my favorite childhood memory is just growing up in South Dallas with all my friends all I wanted to do was play basketball as a kid
