{"id":12290,"date":"2015-01-12T12:00:12","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T17:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/creative.clemson.edu\/clemsonworld\/?p=12290"},"modified":"2015-01-12T12:00:12","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T17:00:12","slug":"call-mister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/call-mister\/","title":{"rendered":"Call Me MISTER"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"CMM-graduation3\"<\/a>
\nListen to the MISTERs sing “One MISTER”:<\/em>
\nhttps:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/One-Mister.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/p>\n

Providing positive role models in classrooms and communities<\/h2>\n

TEACHING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL was not the future that Daniel Spencer \u201909 envisioned as a high school senior in Swansea, South Carolina. With two brothers having dropped out of high school (one of whom served prison time) and parents who didn\u2019t go to college, postsecondary education wasn\u2019t even on his radar \u2014 even though he was in the top 10 percent of his graduating class.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"DanielFortunately, he decided at the last minute to apply to Coastal Carolina University and chose elementary education as his major.
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t have a clue,\u201d Spencer said. \u201cI thought, \u2018Well, I passed elementary school. I should be able to teach it!\u2019\u201d
\nWhen Spencer\u2019s English professor learned about his major, he told him about Call Me MISTER\u00ae<\/sup>, a program started at Clemson to encourage and place African-American male teachers in South Carolina\u2019s public elementary school classrooms. He advised Spencer to transfer to Clemson to be a part of the program. The rest, he says, is history.
\n\u201cFrom the first day, Call Me MISTER changed what I thought would be easy into a lifetime challenge of working with people and shaping the lives of youth,\u201d Spencer said.<\/p>\n

MEETING THE CHALLENGE<\/h3>\n

This was a challenge observed 15 years ago by Clemson University as well as Benedict College, Claflin University and Morris College, three historically black institutions in the state.
\n\u201cWe found that there were more black men in jail than were sleeping in the dormitories of the colleges in our state,\u201d said Roy Jones, Call Me MISTER director and a faculty member at Clemson\u2019s Eugene T. Moore School of Education.\u00a0[pullquote]\u201cThere were more black men in prisons than were teaching in our state, especially in elementary education. That we saw as a problem.\u201d[\/pullquote]
\nAnd, Jones added, in a state that is one-third African-American and where young black males were being expelled, referred to discipline and dropping out of school at higher rates than any gender or ethnic group, fewer than one percent of the state\u2019s teaching workforce were African-American males.
\nLeaders at the four institutions saw a connection between those figures. They determined that if you could increase the number of African-American males in the classroom, perhaps there would be more avenues for understanding and tackling the challenges that confront young black boys during their formative years.
\n\u201cWe got together and said, \u2018We can do something about this,\u2019\u201d Jones said.
\nAnd Call Me MISTER was born.
\nClemson \u2014 along with Benedict, Claflin and Morris \u2014 started Call Me MISTER (Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models) in 2000. Clemson provided fundraising and program support, while the remaining three colleges carried out the program on their campuses.
\nHoused in the Eugene T. Moore School of Education at Clemson, Call Me MISTER combines teacher education with co-curricular programs such as retreats, seminars, academic support, mentoring, a summer institute, internships and volunteer opportunities. Participants, known as MISTERs, also live and study together as cohorts and receive tuition assistance through loan forgiveness programs as well as help with job placement.
\nSince its inception, the program has grown to 19 colleges\/universities in South Carolina, including Clemson and Coastal Carolina. That number also includes several two-year community and technical colleges, a move made to provide greater opportunity and access to the program.
\n[pullquote]As a result of these efforts, there has been a 75 percent increase in the number of African-American males teaching in South Carolina\u2019s public elementary schools.[\/pullquote]\u00a0Of the 150 students who have completed the Call Me MISTER program in the Palmetto State, 100 percent of them remain in the education field.
\nUnderstanding that the issue is not South Carolina\u2019s alone \u2014 that nationally, the number of male teachers is at a 40-year low, and that African-American males comprise less than 2 percent of the teaching workforce \u2014 Call Me MISTER has expanded to include 13 colleges in Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Mississippi, Georgia and the District of Columbia. Including graduates and current students, approximately 425 participants are in the program nationwide.<\/p>\n

IT’S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS<\/h3>\n

\"CMM-summer1\"Since the program\u2019s inception, Call Me MISTER leaders have found that its purpose is being fulfilled: more African-American males are entering elementary classrooms and more African-American children \u2014 especially boys \u2014 are seeing them as positive role models.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt about what it means for so many kids to see an African-American male in a position of authority where he is also nurturing, where he is also loving and where he is also mentoring,\u201d said Winston Holton, who leads Clemson\u2019s Call Me MISTER cohort. \u201cOur MISTERs are filling an important void.\u201d
\nBut the program is doing something more \u2014 it is exacting a powerful personal influence that transcends race, gender and socioeconomics.
\n\u201cI believe that Call Me MISTER is making up the difference between what\u2019s not happening in our homes, schools and communities and\u00a0what needs to happen \u2014 and that is the fostering of healthy relationships,\u201d Holton said. <\/span>
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t have healthy relationships across too many lines,\u201d Holton continued. \u201cYou see this playing out every day in schools and playgrounds across South Carolina \u2014 and in teacher\u2019s lounges, in businesses, in families, in neighborhoods, everywhere.\u201d <\/span>
\nFrom day one, Call Me MISTER encourages \u2014 even requires \u2014 its students to pursue healthy relationships, Holton said. Through an intentional yet organic process, MISTERs learn to understand and articulate their life stories and hear each other\u2019s stories with empathy and understanding \u2014 and this skill makes all the difference when they enter the classroom and community as teachers. <\/span>
\n\u201cThe result is that MISTERs have the capacity to empathize with their students, parents, fellow teachers and community members just as they, themselves, have experienced empathy,\u201d Holton said. \u201cThey are able to see through the differences, even the maladies, and really see another\u2019s humanity. That\u2019s how learning happens and how students, schools and communities are elevated.\u201d <\/span>
\n\u201cIt\u2019s all about relationships,\u201d Holton summarized. <\/span><\/p>\n

I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE<\/h3>\n

Countless young people have been influenced by their relationships with Daniel Spencer, including his niece and nephew, the children of his formerly incarcerated brother.
\n\u201cI was trying to help raise them, and I realized through Call Me MISTER that I wasn\u2019t teaching them; I was just telling them what to do,\u201d Spencer said. \u201cListening to the MISTERs and learning from them taught me that I can do things differently \u2014 and that I can make a difference.\u201d<\/p><\/div>
\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JWFWbnHbD0g?rel=0]
\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/p><\/div>
\n 
\nSpencer\u2019s niece and nephew, now ages 15 and 16, live with him in Seneca \u2014 happily adjusted and involved in school and community activities. <\/span>
\nSpencer is also making a difference in his classroom at Blue Ridge Elementary, a Title 1 school with a high percentage of children from low-income families. He meets with each child individually and sets goals for the year, based not only on test scores but also the child\u2019s own aspirations. And he holds them accountable to those goals, meeting with them throughout the year. <\/span>
\n\u201cI get to know all the kids and strive to meet everyone where they are,\u201d Spencer said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve gotten past the \u2018I\u2019m here for them to like me\u2019 thing because at the end of the day, I know that they are going to love me \u2014 because they respect me, and they know I believe in them.\u201d <\/span>
\nWhat results from this exchange of respect, caring and expectation is academic progress. \u201cThe kids are exceeding their own expectations, which translates into authentic learning,\u201d Spencer said. <\/span><\/p>\n

SPIRIT OF HOPE FOR CHANGE<\/h3>\n

It is clear that authentic learning is needed for South Carolina\u2019s children. The Palmetto State ranks 43rd in education, according to the 2014 Kids Count Profile, with 72 percent of South Carolina\u2019s fourth graders lacking proficiency in reading, and 69 percent of eighth graders identified as below proficiency in math. Twenty-eight percent of high school students aren\u2019t graduating on time, if at all. <\/span>
\nThe same report ranks South Carolina 44th in economic well-being and child health \u2014 both factors that affect children\u2019s performance in school. <\/span>
\nThe statistics grow more dire in underserved schools and communities, where employment and other opportunities have increasingly diminished, says\u00a0<\/span>Roy Jones.
\nWith these factors in mind, Jones and his colleagues focus on recruiting MISTERs from underserved areas and encouraging them to return to their communities or others with similar challenges.
\n[pullquote]\u201cCall Me MISTER teachers are at the cutting edge of a new crusade \u2014 to ensure quality education in underserved areas by creating a pool of talented teachers who are fiercely loyal to their schools and communities,\u201d Jones said.[\/pullquote]\u00a0\u201cSuch teachers embody the spirit of hope for change.\u201d<\/p>\n

I WANT TO SEE THESE KIDS GROW UP<\/h3>\n

\"CMM-Spencerclass1\"\u201cFiercely loyal\u201d could be used to describe Daniel Spencer. Since he started his career at Blue Ridge, he has been offered many opportunities to teach in other school districts, but he is dedicated to remaining at the school and in the community where he has served as a volunteer since his days as a Clemson student.
\n\u201cThe first kids I mentored when they were in the fourth grade are now in the 11th grade,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to see these kids grow up.\u201d
\nIn addition to teaching, Spencer coaches high school basketball and middle school football in Seneca, attends his students\u2019 extracurricular activities, holds free basketball clinics and workouts at Blue Ridge during the summer, and takes students to events such as Clemson\u2019s spring football scrimmage, which many of them have never attended even though they live less than 10 miles away. When he greets former students or players in the grocery store or at school events, they avoid him\u00a0if their grades aren\u2019t up to par, because they know he\u2019ll ask. \u201cI love being there and talking to the kids because the more they see positive people and consistently have positive people talking to them, the better they are going to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

THE INTANGIBLE ‘MORE’<\/h3>\n

What is it about Call Me MISTER that inspires such dedication and selflessness? If you talk to anyone associated with the program, you\u2019ll find that it\u2019s because it\u2019s more than a program \u2014 it\u2019s a lifestyle, a way of being.
\nThe intangible \u201cmore\u201d begins with the name of the program. The brainchild of Call Me MISTER founding director Tom Parks, the name is not only an acronym but also a tribute to a famous line by Virgil Tibbs (played by Sidney Poitier) in the 1967 movie \u201cIn the Heat of the Night.\u201d
\nWhile investigating a murder investigation in a small Mississippi town, Tibbs, an African-American detective from Philadelphia, is asked by the racist sheriff what people in his hometown police force call him. With dignity and assertiveness, Tibbs responds, \u201cThey call me \u2018Mister Tibbs!\u2019\u201d
\nIt is a line that inspires, even demands, respect.
\nRespect is a cornerstone of Call Me MISTER, one that is seen as MISTERs receive the program\u2019s signature black blazer upon graduation \u2014 and in the way MISTERs refer to each other as \u201cMister\u201d in formal Call Me MISTER settings.
\n\u201cUltimately, our hope is for each MISTER to be self-assured and know himself, and to appreciate and understand the value of building relationships across traditional lines,\u201d Holton said.
\nOther Call Me MISTER foundational concepts include ambassadorship, stewardship, personal growth and teacher efficacy. \u201cAnd all of these things together pour into the most important tenet, servant-leadership,\u201d which Holton describes as \u201cliving for more than yourself.\u201d
\nPerhaps no one embodies servant-leadership more than Jeff Davis, former field director for Call Me MISTER, current assistant athletic director of football player relations, and 2001 recipient of Oprah Winfrey\u2019s Use Your Life award.
\nAll MISTERs continue to be challenged each time they recite the vision statement Davis penned, which includes the line, \u201cA title is only important if one\u2019s character and integrity dictate its use.\u201d
\nThe single MISTER who rises to that challenge most valiantly receives the Jeff Davis Spirit Award, one of the most coveted honors bestowed annually upon a MISTER.
\nAccording to Clemson junior Michael Miller, a MISTER from Orangeburg and 2014 recipient of the Jeff Davis Spirit Award, servant-leadership has been the key to his Call Me MISTER education.
\n\u201cMy viewpoint about education has changed from \u2018What can I tell you or dictate to you?\u2019 to \u2018What can I do for you?\u2019\u201d he said.
\n\u201cI want to be an educator rather than a teacher,\u201d he continued. \u201cA teacher delivers content, and that is important. The word \u2018educator\u2019 comes from the Latin word educe, which means to draw from within. That\u2019s what I try to do with my students \u2014 to pull out what is already within them. Call Me MISTER has taught me how to do that.\u201d
\nMelanie Kieve is the public information director for the College of Health, Education, and Human Development and the Eugene T. Moore School of Education.<\/em>
\n

\t<\/span><\/a>
<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/div><\/div>
\nTo learn more about Call Me MISTER director Roy Jones, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listen to the MISTERs sing “One MISTER”: Providing positive role models in classrooms and communities TEACHING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL was not the future that Daniel Spencer \u201909 envisioned as a high school senior in Swansea, South Carolina. With two brothers having dropped out of high school (one of whom served prison time) and parents who didn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[128,389,396,508,914,994,1061,1130,2148,2386,2467,2663,2757,3292,3298],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-12290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-african-american-men","tag-black-males","tag-blue-ridge-elementary","tag-call-me-mister","tag-daniel-spencer","tag-diversity","tag-education","tag-eugene-t-moore-school-of-education","tag-oprah","tag-research-feature","tag-roy-jones","tag-south-carolina","tag-students","tag-winston-holton","tag-winter-2015"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/01\/CMM-graduation3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12290"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=12290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}