Practical Access Podcast

Season 9 Bonus: Call Me MISTER

• Eric Imperiale • Season 9 • Episode 10

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Less than 2 percent of public school teachers in the United States are African American men. Call Me MISTER (Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models) was established to help increase the number of African American males in the classroom. Call Me MISTER is an innovative and effective leadership development program for African American males to prepare and place them as teachers and role models in elementary schools. The program aims to address the most pressing educational concerns, including achievement gaps and dropout rates in the African-American community. 

Today we interview Dr. Charmion Rush, an Associate Professor of Inclusive and Special Education at Western Carolina University, and the Call Me MiSTER cohort she leads. Tune in to learn how the program provides financial and academic support, program mentors, summer leadership institutes, and professional development opportunities designed specifically for the MISTERs. 

Don't forget we love to hear from our listeners? If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. We look forward to receiving your questions on our Google Phone (407) 900- 9305, Facebook (Practical Access), Twitter (@AccessPractical), or Instagram (@Practical_Access).

Lisa Dieker:

Welcome to Practical Access. I'm Lisa Dieker. And I'm Rebecca Hines and Lisa, I am very excited about today's guests. We've been waiting a while to try to get Charmi on to join us help tell everybody what we're gonna be talking about. Well, we're super excited not only to have Charmiane Rush, Dr. Charmaine Rush from Western Carolina, but we have three student guests, which, you

Charmaine Rush:

Thank you guys. Thank you so very much. Thank you for having us.

Rebecca Hines:

And Dr. Ross, can you tell us a little bit about the scholars that you have invited to join us today?

Charmaine Rush:

Most certainly with pleasure. So this is Mr. Andrew Smith. And do you want to give a little bit of your background,

Andrew Smith:

I'm Andrew Smith, I'm from I'm from East Powdersville, South Carolina, and I attend Western Carolina University. I'm a junior and I major in middle grades education and history.

Charmaine Rush:

And I have Mr. Montgomery Moore.

Montgomery Moore:

Hello, I am Montgomery Moore I am from Winston Salem, North Carolina. I am majoring in inclusive education. And I am a sophomore.

Charmaine Rush:

And I have Mr. Anthony Freeman.

Anthony Freeman:

Hello. I'm Anthony Freeman. I'm from Asheville, North Carolina. I am a freshman here at Western Carolina University majoring in inclusive education.

Rebecca Hines:

Well, it is so good to meet you all. And I know does Dr. Rush are also at Western Carolina. And you know, I, first of all, I'm so excited to actually have some, some authentic scholars here to talk about, you know, why you guys are interested into coming into the field of education at a time when it's really hard to recruit people into the field in general, especially men. So Do any of you guys want to share kind of your insights? What What brought you here?

Andrew Smith:

I know. I know, for me, it was a going through school and not having anybody to look up to was a big problem. So I knew once I got out of high school that I wanted to be that role model for a kid one day.

Lisa Dieker:

Andrew, that's great, great statement. I love it. Thank you for sharing.

Unknown:

I know for me, I struggled in my grade school years. So I want to make an impact on the younger generation. Because believe it or not, they have it harder in my opinion than we did. Because so much has changed with all of the technology used in the classrooms.

Lisa Dieker:

And my great I love to that you're an inclusive Ed and for our listeners who might not know that means a special education teacher which is really really we have a huge shortage and again to have represented males is a huge asset so Thanks How about you Anthony

Anthony Freeman:

so one reason for me is to give back I've always had that mindset of giving back to the students on what has been given to me throughout the high school throughout my education years and just to focus on what are some things that students need and what are some things are working Excuse me, where do students need support most of so given back to the students

Rebecca Hines:

and Dr. Rush I know you are the the orchestra leader who has brought these gentlemen into the profession and you have done this through a project called Call Me MISTER is that right?

Charmaine Rush:

Correct. Call me Mr.

Rebecca Hines:

Can you tell us a little bit about about your program so that others who are trying to recruit such a great group of guys into the profession would have some ideas how to get started?

Charmaine Rush:

Absolutely. So Call Me Mister is not an original idea of ours. It it's been around for a while, at least 20 years. Dr. Roy Jones at Clemson University is the founder of Call Me Mister. And what makes us unique is that we are the 10th state and the only Call Me Mister program in the state of North Carolina. So Call Me Mister is in nine other states on the east coast to my knowledge. And so what gives Mr. the edge right? That is intentional about recruiting men of So I am very honored to be the What'd you call me? What was my title?

Rebecca Hines:

I called you a leader of the orchestra. I could have said conductor.

Charmaine Rush:

Me go there my drive. And so they're my my reason for for recruiting. So

Lisa Dieker:

you Yeah, I'm curious Dr. Rush and gentlemen, you're welcome to chime in, what would you recommend to other districts or universities to recruit men of color to ensure their voice and their presence is there like you all seem to have this great passion, but I'm sure Dr. Rush there was a moment where you connected them to the university, and maybe what other advice you might have to others looking to increase the diversity of their workforce.

Montgomery Moore:

Okay, I would say going in you need to know your why your why is everything your why is what you're going to stand by on days that come that are not the strongest. However, the good days, always out go the bad days, I guess the right way to put it.

Lisa Dieker:

I love it, I always jokingly say you can have a good day, if you didn't have a bad day. Because you would know it was good. So I love that statement. Thanks.

Unknown:

I'm gonna go with the same I'm gonna go to same thing with my government's gonna say and always find your purpose before finding a career or a job and understand the why and the meaning of that purpose. And then once you find your purpose, then that's where you pursue your goals and your dreams or wherever you'd like to be. These two young men, Montgomery and Andrew are my original

Charmaine Rush:

I'm recruiting these young men, their senior year, they may not have many things GPA to get in, right. But that's, that doesn't necessarily deterred me either. Because I need to see that diamond in the rough, right? And I'm willing to work with them that they're willing to work with us. We've had a bad rap teachers, right, no matter what discipline, and that's not always necessarily the most unfortunately career that is saw. But these young males that I recruit do have their why and they kind of know their purpose. And so, yeah, that's one of the things I asked when I recruit one I asked them, when was the first time a male of color has enter your life? And I hear the stories of their junior senior years, some of them and then I asked them, What's their purpose? So they can answer that for me. They necessary and we want to invest in them.

Rebecca Hines:

Yeah, well, and again, it's such a great project. Can you give me a little of the nuts and bolts so let's say I have a friend or family member who's a young man of color and he actually has his Why, what what does he do to get connected and what do you guys offer? Do you have some kind of like scholarship stipend, etc. So what what's the selling point?

Charmaine Rush:

Well, everybody wants to know where the money is right? First, and honestly, I can't give them that broad answer because we are new, we are new, but we do have incentives to be here which one is monetary. We are a North Carolina School promise school. And so that means there are three in North Carolina with tuition is $500. And so that is one of the things that draw me into We also have in kind funds that we offer to the students as well as outside the the external funds that we bring in, we invest in them with the technology packages, we also support them with the resources to pass the practice and the Pearson As you guys know that interest exam and then that final licensure exam that become teachers. So But beyond that, we are invested in these man we are here And we are here to populate that workforce, right making this fun as we can

Lisa Dieker:

So I'm curious, gentlemen, when you got approached about this program, and you know, there's incentives and your Why was there, what, what do you think is different why you chose this, let's pick history when maybe you could have been a reporter or 1000s of other things, what made teaching attractive to you, because I think that's what we can't quite figure out. There's some reason

Andrew Smith:

I know for me, I always enjoyed, when I hung around like, people that were younger than me, I always like enjoyed guiding them in the right path, and motivating them. So I knew if I was a teacher, I can motivate students in all different ways, and guide them to the path that fits them more than just leaving somebody that leaving down someone a path that fits someone else.

Lisa Dieker:

Interesting, thanks.

Unknown:

I can say for me, I am a fifth generation educator in my family. And I want to make my ancestors proud. And one of the educators that were in my family was Katherine Johnson. So seeing all the hard work that she did, and a difficult time makes me want to pursue education, just like the rest of my family.

Lisa Dieker:

That's beautiful. Thank you.

Anthony Freeman:

And for me to find find them, you know, just finding a reason why teaching really was that it for me, I should say, is to number one, I would love to lead students into finding things, what isn't or wasn't saying that we can be successful and communication, and a lot of those things. For me, so to see those students grow, to being there, and being there for them and helping them out. And being a number one supporter for them.

Rebecca Hines:

And, you know, you guys I know are lucky to have someone like Dr. Rush, who's who's putting together you know, a cohort and giving you guys a lot of support there. But my my final question is to any of you, Dr. Rush, or you, you gentlemen, what is it going to take? What's it going to take to get more people? And maybe the guy should answer that for us first, guys, thinking

Unknown:

I would say get a jump start. Like right, when students, some students like become high school freshmen, maybe we should start asking them what do they want to do and see what we can do to see if we can find if they want to join us and down the road? Once they get older? Because save if they if they don't, it's like, okay, well, maybe they still told someone else and they told someone

Rebecca Hines:

Yeah, that's great.

Montgomery Moore:

I would say, know, your reasoning, and do your research first. Because once you have your research, you have all your ducks in a row. And you can see what's important. And there's like a seesaw effect where you can weigh in the good and the bad, or the good in the good. And especially for from a scholarship standpoint, because like Dr. Rush said, they're always a week concerned

Unknown:

Yeah, absolutely. I agree with Andrew and Montgomery on that. And just piggyback on that doing doing your research first and weigh out the pros and cons. Finding that finding your purpose is the main thing too, as well. And then after that is to get a head start on what do you want to be? What do you want to seek and where do you want to take this?

Rebecca Hines:

And Dr. Rush? My final question for you is, you know, what's really your greatest obstacle as you try to recruit more young men like these? What's your biggest obstacle?

Charmaine Rush:

Ah, let me choose one.

Lisa Dieker:

Give us more than one.

Charmaine Rush:

You know, kind of piggyback on what they just said being an obstacle. You know, we need to start early and I will say one of the recruits we will have this year I got him when he was a junior And so he will be coming to us next year. But we also need to invest. And I'm not just talking about monetarily, but all that, that that is obviously important. school systems need to invest in their students, you know, and so I'm proud to say that we have a partnership with Asheville City School, which is how we got Anthony, in which they are putting money into his education. And he also have a

Lisa Dieker:

Yeah, and my last question for you all, it'd be like maybe a short sentence or a phrase and Dr. Rush when these gentlemen are ready to be in the school and called Mr. What does that mean to you?

Unknown:

It's a legacy that I have to put forward and make myself proud but also make the my future family proud because of who I am in the classroom. And I'm being 100% up there for my students and support them no matter what. I finally have that chance to be a positive role model in someone's life. And a bit and being a leader for those students. And in changing the environment,

Lisa Dieker:

And Dr. Rush when they walk across the stage. How do you feel?

Charmaine Rush:

Oh my god, I cannot wait, this will be my first one right here. I'm not trying to be the mom that did mom or whatever. Now I am. But I am a mom at heart and I do have biologically a child. So I can't help but be proud of them and everything they do even now, right? They haven't made it across this stage. But I tell them that being a mister is a blessing and a curse, okay, in that people looking at them, and now they want to see them succeed. But everyone

Rebecca Hines:

I can't either. Congratulations, guys.

Lisa Dieker:

Congratulations. And I've already offered Dr. Hines to fund their masters and doctoral level when they're ready. So we're ready.

Charmaine Rush:

Yeah. You promised him doctorate degrees.

Lisa Dieker:

You let me know when you're ready. We will we will make that happen. I will find a way I promise so. Well, we thank you for joining us. Literally it's been a our privilege. And if our listeners have any questions, you can send us a Tweet at Access practical, or send us a question on our Facebook post. Thank you again, everyone. We appreciate you all.

Charmaine Rush:

Thank you