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Call Me MISTER

Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models

The mission of the Call Me MISTER® Initiative is to increase the pool of available teachers from a broader, more diverse background, particularly among the State’s lowest-performing elementary schools.

The Call Me MiSTER® program is an award-winning teacher recruitment and retention program with more than 25 years in existence, which has historically enrolled and graduated students regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender.

Teacher candidate participants are largely selected from underserved, socio-economically disadvantaged and educationally at-risk communities.

The term MISTER is an acronym for Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models, and is primarily a mentorship-centered program where students will be mentored into effective leaders, and will become mentors themselves to their students.

Smiling Converse students walk on campus

Call Me MISTER is a teacher recruitment and retention program open to ALL aspiring teachers, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender.

Call Me MISTER is a teacher recruitment and retention program open to ALL aspiring teachers, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender.

The Call Me MISTER® Program at Converse University supports opportunities for incoming Education majors from diverse backgrounds. In partnership with Clemson University, our goal is to support the mission of Call Me MISTER by:

  • Increasing the number of SC teachers from diverse backgrounds and experiences 
  • Recruiting, retaining, and nurturing participants
  • Building the talent pipeline across high-need areas
  • Increasing the number of SC teachers from diverse backgrounds and experiences 
  • Recruiting, retaining, and nurturing participants
  • Building the talent pipeline across high-need areas

    • Call Me MISTER Program Benefits

    • Academic coaching & leadership training
    • Weekly mentoring
    • Scholarship awards & tuition assistance
    • Cohort system for social and cultural support
    • Professional development
    • Local retreats
    • PRAXIS support
    • Classroom experiences beginning freshman year
    • Summer Leadership Institutes at Clemson University
    • A living, learning community

    Eligibility

    Admission to the Call Me MISTER program at Converse is contingent upon acceptance to Converse University.

    To apply to the Call Me MISTER program at Converse, a teacher candidate must be an education major in their Freshman or Sophomore year at Converse University.

    Call Me Mister Contact Form

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    Application Priority Deadline: April 15

    Application Details

    To find out more and apply for this program, contact James Lies at james.lies@converse.edu.

    Following the submission of the application, an interview will be scheduled with the potential MiSTER to ascertain their potential for teaching and their motivation for participation in the program, as well as to clarify any information submitted through the application process.

    Compile the following documents prior to beginning the application:

    1. High School transcript.
    2. ACT or SAT scores (optional).
    3. Two letters of recommendation: One from a teacher, guidance counselor, or principal from your high school AND one  from a person who can express your involvement in the community and/or potential for entering the teaching profession.
    4.  Two essays: Essay 1: Why I Want to Teach,” which will address your motivation for entering the teaching profession and the contributions you hope to make to the profession and to the community as a teacher. Essay 2: “How do you believe the Call Me MISTER® program will benefit you as a student?”
    5. If accepted into the program, you are required to attend orientation at Clemson University during the summer of admission to the university.

    Call Me MISTER™ Teacher Candidate Vision Statement

    “I am a dedicated Servant Leader who is perpetuating a sorely needed concept – Servant-Leaders as role models in elementary schools. I am devoted to planting seeds of dignity and respect in children and inspiring them to cultivate those seeds producing a crop of unprecedented success. I will teach reading, writing and arithmetic and progress to self-esteem, imagination and determination. Because of my immeasurable promise, not only have I earned your respect, I demand it! A title is only important if ones’ character and integrity dictate its use. When you address me, please verbalize my destiny… please do not call me by my first name… call me in reference to my great vision… call me MISTER!”

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