Sometimes you need someone to lift you up, hold you accountable and help you feel empowered. There are times you need a safe place to share ideas, a place to express your hopes and fears. You need a brotherhood.
That’s what Anthony James ’12 (M.A.T.) aims to achieve through the Call Me MISTER program, which academically and financially supports male minority students who choose to major in education. James, who took the helm of the program last fall as the School of Education, Health, and Human Performance‘s director of minority education and outreach, wants to build the program up to include both academic support and social and emotional support for the students who participate.
“I think it is very important for our guys to get out there and meet different types of people, but it’s also important to connect with other minorities on campus who may have had a similar experience,” says James.
And that sense of belonging matters because, as minority male teachers, these education majors aspire to someday influence and uplift their own students, especially those who look like them.
Senior Kory Roberts, an elementary education majorand a member of Call Me MISTER, says the program has given him a variety of opportunities to grow and develop as an educator and leader, preparing him to teach the type of students he wants to serve.
“The program encourages me to network with a cohort of members that not only look like me, but also share a common goal in striving to impact the classroom,” says Roberts, who spent the spring 2019 semester student teaching at Stiles Point Elementary School on James Island, where he taught fourth grade reading, writing and social studies. “Call Me MISTER also helps me connect to the communities I want to teach in by having us participate in service projects and supporting several local Title I [high poverty] schools.”
Story by Amanda Kerr. For more on this story, check out The College Today!
