The first two College of Charleston graduates of the Call Me MISTER program recently began teaching assignments in Lowcountry classrooms.  In May 2011 Jimmy Freeman and Thomas Savage were the first students to complete the program, which provides scholarships and support for undergraduate African-American male teacher education students. 

Savage currently teaches 8th grade social studies at the highly sought Rollings Middle School of the Arts in Summerville. He says, “The year has been a dream thus far — something that I don’t see changing in the near future! My students are absolutely phenomenal and really push me to be as knowledgeable about my subject area as possible. While I have always wanted to be a teacher, I believe the MISTER program certainly made that desire a reality. The resources made available to me and the assistance I received from affiliates of the program made it an invaluable experience that, in retrospect, was very surreal.”

Freeman is currently teaching 4th grade English language arts at Sedgefield Elementary School in Berkeley County. He says, “It has been a blast being in the classroom! Already, I have noticed an impact on my students having a male teacher in a Title One school. I came from a similar background as many of these students, so they know that I understand where they are coming from. That is my goal in teaching – to be a positive role model.”
The Call Me Mister program was launched in 2007 through the School of Education, Health, and Human Performance as part of an ongoing effort to diversify the teaching profession, a critical factor in closing the achievement gap of minority students in S.C.

Research has shown African American males who have at least one African American male teacher between kindergarten and eighth grade is three times more likely to graduate from high school and pursue post-secondary education.  On average, the test scores of African American students who spend at least one year with an African American teacher improve by four percent.  In South Carolina, over one-third of the PK-8 students are African American yet less than one percent of elementary and middle school teachers are African American men.

According to former SC Representative and Call Me MISTER program coordinator Floyd Breeland, “Trends show the number of minority students rising while the number of minority teachers stays the same or declines in our state.  We’re committed to building up the ranks of minority teachers by supporting promising future professionals like Jimmy, Thomas and other MISTERs, giving them resources and tools for success in their college careers and in their own classrooms.”

The School of Education, Health, and Human Performance offers several other programs to increase the number of minority male teachers in schools, including the Volpe Fellowship, the Early Literacy Partnership with the Charleston County School District (CCSD), and several other privately funded scholarships for both graduate and undergraduate teacher education students.

The Call Me Mister program currently has 20 participants, including four who will graduate in 2012.

For more information, contact Sara Perry at 843.953.5272.