Ulysees L. Gilbert, Program Director

The mission of the Call Me MISTER (acronym for Mentors Instructing Students Towards Effective Role Models) is a Florida minority recruitment initiative that originated from the Call Me MISTER model currently at Clemson University in South Carolina. The programs objective is to increase the pool of available minority male teachers from a broader more diverse background, particularly among the State's lowest performing elementary schools in Northeast Florida. Important objectives for the Call Me MISTER are:

• There are less than 1% of current elementary school teachers who are minority men. Even a small program over about eight years could significantly change that percentage in the NEFEC region. A small change where minority men became long-term elementary school teachers could dramatically change the life experiences not only of those men but for all of the students in the schools where they serve.
  
  
• Misters will be trained to provide strong mentoring support not only to young minority males but to other students of which they serve at the elementary level.
  
  
• Funding is currently at $300,000.00 non-recurring. Request funding to be maintained at current level. This provides full tuitions, books and fees for (5) minority men at five community colleges. After graduation from Community Colleges, MISTERs will begin Baccalaureates programs in elementary education at major universities thru the Florida Fund for Minority Teacher Scholarship Program this includes Bethune Cookman and Florida Agriculture and Mechanical Universities.
  
  
• The five participating Community Colleges are :
  • St. Johns River Community College (Host)
  • Florida State College in Jacksonville
  • Santa Fe State College
  • Florida Gateway College
  • Daytona State College

As graduates, students are expected to have an impact by returning to critical need schools and communities to pursue their professional careers. To maximize opportunity and greater access, students will have the option of first attending one of our two-year partner colleges before transferring to a four-year institution to complete their program of study in teacher education and baccalaureate degree. It is expected that a MISTER who completes his program of study and becomes certified to teach will assume a teaching position and teach one year for each year they received financial support from the Call Me MISTER program.

The primary goals of the Call Me MISTER program are to:

1. Utilize Florida’s community colleges as a major source of potential scholars;
2. Raise the awareness of the changing demographics in Florida’s public schools;
3. Train future teachers on issues related to the trends in education, changing student needs, professional development; as well as, recruitment and retention.

Requirements to be a recipient of the Call Me MISTER Scholarship are that an applicant must:

1. Be a resident of the State of Florida;
2. Be a member of one of the following racial groups: African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian /Pacific Islander, or Native American/Alaskan Native;
3. Have a 2.5 Grade Point Average out of high school;
4. Be newly admitted into a teacher education program or admitted to a community college.

"TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK"