Nine states have now adopted “Call Me MISTER”

African American men make up 2 percent of the teachers in the U.S. In South Carolina, 25 percent of all first-year teachers hired for the 2017-2018 academic year are no longer teaching in South Carolina schools. Call Me MISTER® has spent the last 20 years working to change those statistics. The program works to increase the pool of available teachers from more diverse backgrounds, particularly among the lowest-performing elementary schools. What started as a single program at Clemson University is now at 25 participating institutions in nine states. Ninety percent of students in the Call Me MISTER program come from South Carolina public schools — and 85 percent of graduates are still teaching in them, often in Title 1 schools. If MISTERs leave the classroom, it’s usually to become administrators as 36 alumni have. Of the 278 MISTERs who have graduated from the program in South Carolina, 42 have been named Teachers of the Year by their schools. One example is Cameron Brice, an educator-turned-administrator and alumnus of Call Me MISTER who has enjoyed 10 years working in South Carolina schools. Brice is now an administrative assistant at A.J. Whittenberg Elementary School in Greenville.