Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Reformed Gang Member Named Missouri's Teacher Of The Year

Updated September 7, 2021

By the age of 10, Darrion Cockrell had joined a gang and was headed down a dangerous path. But thanks to the help of his seventh grade football coach, he was able to turn his life around and not only go on to become a successful teacher, but also be named Missouri's Teacher of the Year for 2021.

As CNN reported, Cockrell, a physical education teacher at Crestwood Elementary School in St. Louis, was awarded the honor by the Missouri Department of Education earlier this year, becoming the first male teacher to hold the state's title since 2015.

As a child, Cockrell (or "Mr. C," as his students affectionately call him) didn't have any interest in school.

Unsplash | Element5 Digital

"We were just already in it because of our family," he told Good Morning America. "I didn't care about books. I had to go home and figure out what I was eating. I had to figure out if my lights were going to be on."

His father was killed when Cockrell was only four years old and his mother, who'd already birthed two of her six children by the time she was 16, had a serious drug addiction. Not long after his sixth birthday, Cockrell was placed in the foster care system, and would spend the next several years being moved in and out of homes.

At 10 years old, Cockrell joined a gang, and believed his future was destined to follow the same path as those of his friends — he believed he'd either wind up in jail or dead.

Unsplash | Emiliano Bar

But when he reached middle school, he suddenly had a support group of teachers who went out of their way to guide him and keep him from fulfilling that bleak destiny he felt was inevitable.

When his grandmother lost custody of him and he was nearly transferred to a boarding school for troubled youth, his counselor, principal, and a few teachers went to court to fight for him to stay put.

"My middle school teacher picked me up every day [at the foster center] and drove me to school," Cockrell told GMA. "She pretty much was my mom for six months."

In the seventh grade, Cockrell was adopted by his football coach and his wife, who he would go on to live with until he finished high school.

YouTube | MODeptofEducation

Backed by his incredible support team, he pursued his education and went on to graduate with a degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

"No, I'm not Micahel Oher from 'The Blindside,' although I did have dreams of the NFL," Cockrell said in his October acceptance speech for the Missouri Teacher of the Year award. "My message for teachers is understanding the power that we have to make positive or negative impacts in the lives of others."

In that same speech, Cockrell said students are "very diverse. They have different backgrounds and home lives."

"All of these have a huge effect on how students respond to life events," he continued. "All it takes is one person, just one, to make an experience great. Why not let it be you who makes that positive impact in the lives of our students?"

In a press release, the Missouri Department of Education applauded Cockrell for his dedication to his students' wellbeing, both physically and emotionally.

“Missouri is fortunate to have so many high-quality educators, and Darrion will be a wonderful representative as our state’s Teacher of the Year,” Commissioner of Education Margie Vandeven said. “He guides his students towards long-term physical and mental wellness, and the connections he has established will impact Crestwood children for years to come.”

h/t: CNN, Good Morning America

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