SC State inducts 7 into teaching profession, helping fill gap in minority representation

The future teachers include the university’s first graduating cohort of  Minority Access to Teacher Education Bridge Scholars.

ORANGEBURG, S.C. – When Micayla Charley graduates from South Carolina State University on Friday, Dec. 15, with an early childhood education degree, she will help mitigate the shortage of minority teachers in South Carolina.

The Orangeburg resident was supported in that goal by an SC State program specifically designed to increase minority representation in the state’s teaching ranks, the Minority Access to Teacher Education (MATTE) Bridge program.

“I always knew I wanted to be a teacher, so Matte Bridge was one outlet for me to make this possible,” Charley said. “I come from a family of teachers. My mom is a teacher currently, and my dad used to be a teacher. I just love watching children learn. I love helping children.

“Being at a Historically Black University, all these minority teachers are coming together, sharing ideas, making connections with each other and just loving what we do,” she said.

Funded by a $1.4 million grant the South Carolina Legislature awarded to the university’s Department of Education in 2019, the SC State MATTE Bridge Program recruits and offers scholarships to high school students from rural school districts to attend SC State to pursue and complete baccalaureate degrees in teacher education. It provides the necessary assistance for undergraduate students to graduate debt-free, certifiable, and employable.

Charley was one of seven graduating seniors the SC State College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences inducted into the teaching profession on Monday, Dec. 11, and one of four representing the first graduating cohort of MATTE Bridge Scholars.

Alongside Charley, who served as president of the graduating class of educators, the inductees were:

• De’Siree James (MATTE Bridge), early childhood education.
• Natori Murphy, early childhood education.
• Jalen Dugar (Call Me MiSTER), elementary education.
• Domonique Edmondson (MATTE Bridge), elementary education.
• Jevon Holt, (Call Me MiSTER), elementary education.
• Lauren Garner (MATTE Bridge), special education.
   

The inductees recently completed their student teaching requirements under the guidance of Dr. Janice B. Owens, professor and director of SC State’s clinical education program, and faculty supervisors Dr. Yvonne G. Johnson, early childhood education, Dr. George E. Hicks, elementary education, and Dr. Cynthia Bryant, special education.

Like the MATTE Bridge Scholars, Dugar and Holt’s journeys were supported by a program designed to bolster minority representation in South Carolina classrooms.

The Call Me MiSTER Program recruits and prepares Black male students for careers as role models in education through cohorts at SC State and numerous other higher learning institutions. Less than 3% of all teachers in South Carolina are Black men. Nationwide, that figure is 1.3%.

Holt came to SC State all the way from Toronto, Canada, to take advantage of the Call Me MiSTER opportunity.

“When I was trying to find what school I wanted to go to after high school, I was intrigued when I heard about HBCUs, because we don’t have any in Canada,” he said. “When I started researching HBCUs, the Call Me MiSTER Program caught my eye.”

After applying through Dr. Rashad Anderson, the MiSTER program’s director at the time, Holt boarded a plane for sunny South Carolina.

“I flew into Columbia, South Carolina, with just two suitcases of clothes,” Holt said. “I Ubered from Columbia to Orangeburg and moved into Battiste Hall not knowing a single soul on campus but Dr. Anderson.

“Now, I have people here I can call on for anything – faculty I consider family and friends and roommates. They’ve all helped me along the journey,” Holt said, noting that people here opened their homes to him during holiday breaks. “In Canada, we don’t really know what Southern hospitality is. We hear about it in the movies, but I got to experience the real Southern hospitality the last four years.”

Now, he’s ready to apply what he learned in SC State’s elementary education curriculum and Call Me MiSTER in the real world.

“I’m ready to go into a new chapter in my life changing the lives of kids,” Holt said. 

“It feels great. It’s been a long journey. I’ve met a lot of great people along the way, I’ve had great experiences along the way. I’m thankful for the struggles because I’ve learned a lot.”

Holt already is fielding several offers from South Carolina school districts but has not settled on a choice. He knows he would like to teach English and social studies at the upper elementary level to make sure his pupils are ready for middle school.

Charley, meanwhile, already has a destination. She will be teaching first grade at Orangeburg County’s Marshall Elementary School, where she completed her student teaching. She’s already preparing her new classroom and has specific goals for the kind of teacher she wants to be.

“I want them to know that they can come to me for anything. Whether it’s positive or negative, they can talk to me about anything. I want to make a positive impact in their lives,” Charley said.

At Monday’s induction ceremony, the graduating seniors were treated to advice from retired SC State Chair of Education Charlie G. Spell, greetings from SC State President Alexander Conyers and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Frederick Evans, and a musical interlude from vocalist Alphonso W. Grifffin accompanied by Dr. Rosetta Dingle of the music education faculty.

Dr. M. Evelyn Fields, dean of the College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, administered the teacher’s oath and presented the future teachers with completion certificates.

SC State’s Spring Commencement ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 15, at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center. Seating will be limited to faculty, staff, graduating seniors and the seniors’ guests. Seniors have been allotted guest tickets for the occasion.