海角社区

• February 1 –
• February 17 – Presidents Day
• February 19 – Roadrunner Rise Campaign Launch
• February 20 –

by Keylan Villagrana

Call Me MiSTER offers a support system for future leaders in education.

A respected teacher-leadership program dedicated to recruiting, training and placing male African American teachers has made its way west for the first time.

Call Me MiSTER, now offered in Metropolitan State University of Denver鈥檚 School of Education, prepares male undergraduate students of color, especially Black men, for careers in K-12 education and aspires to cultivate 鈥渞evolutionary educators.鈥�

The acronym 鈥淢iSTER鈥� stands for Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models.

鈥淲e really do buy into the concept of being a servant leader,鈥� said Rashad Anderson, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Education and director of the Call Me MiSTER program at 海角社区. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a God-driven passion 鈥� to us, teaching is a calling.鈥�

Veteran MiSTERs 鈥� men already enrolled in college and working in education 鈥� mentor younger college students participating in the program. These new MiSTERs then apply what they鈥檙e learning and mentor K-12 students by partnering with local school districts for school-based youth mentorship programs, campus events and activities.

MiSTERs work to build a brotherhood that serves as a support system. In addition to the mentorship aspect, participants receive tuition assistance, professional development, curriculum instruction and assistance with job placement.

Anderson and undergraduate-student MiSTERs Jordan Puch, Christopher Livingston and Joshua Barringer uprooted their lives in South Carolina to expand the program to 海角社区鈥檚 School of Education, the westernmost participating location in the U.S.

All three attended South Carolina State University under the leadership of Anderson, who served as the director of the SCSU cohort. Over his eight-year tenure, the cohort flourished into a flagship program, which produced 17 Teachers of the Year and fostered presentations at more than 80 national and state conferences.

The conventional model of the program has been to recruit one cohort per university. Anderson鈥檚 vision is for 海角社区鈥檚 School of Education and the greater Auraria Campus to serve the first Call Me MiSTER multicampus collaborative cohort model in the country. Colorado colleges and universities will have the opportunity to offer the program to their student bodies.

Launched in 2000 at Clemson University and Historically Black Colleges and Universities Morris College, Claflin University and Benedict College, Call Me MiSTER now spans 12 states and includes over 40 cohorts and over 500 certified MISTERs.

Anderson said he is often asked how the program will recruit MiSTERs in an area with so few African Americans compared with South Carolina.

鈥淲hat others see as a challenge, I see as possibility,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going be a movement, and it鈥檚 going to be something powerful to see.鈥�

All three MiSTERs at 海角社区 believe in using immersive learning to make a positive impact on the lives of the college and K-12 students they mentor. They will visit Green Valley Elementary School every week this academic year through a partnership with Denver Public Schools.

The MiSTERs take an outside-the-box approach to reach students.

鈥淲hen they are so immersed in the lesson that it doesn鈥檛 even feel like learning, that鈥檚 when I know I鈥檝e done my job,鈥� said Puch, a senior studying Elementary Education. 鈥淚 believe I cannot teach you until I reach you. I want them to know I care and build the foundation of trust first.鈥�

During a visit to Denver for an education conference earlier this year, a group of Black male students attending the conference said they never had a Black male teacher, which struck a chord for Anderson and the MiSTERs.

An essential part of their mission is to expose young students of color to educators who look like them, especially Black male students. Just 1.3% of public-school teachers were Black men in the 2020-21 school year, according to the . That same year, white women made up 61% of public-school teachers.

鈥淲e knew the need for Black male teachers and role models long before we knew about the Call Me MiSTER program,鈥� said Elizabeth Hinde, Ph.D., dean of the School of Education at 海角社区.

鈥淭his program will not only prepare great teachers; it will revolutionize education,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd in order to do that, we need diversity; we need leaders. And that鈥檚 what Call Me MiSTER does: cultivate leaders and changes the face of education.鈥�