Growing up in a household of educators gave Jabari Cain some important lessons about the value of college education. Now, he is bringing those lessons to a new generation in his role as associate professor of instructional technology and director of the Call Me MISTER program at Kennesaw State University.
“I guess it’s in my DNA to be a teacher,” Cain said. “My parents were educators – that’s what made me want to get into education myself. They are both retired now, but they had been in education for a combined 60-plus years.”
Their influence put him on the path to earning advanced degrees in education, but he also recognized the value of representation to students who are considering careers as teachers.
“I understand the importance of K-12 students seeing teachers that look like them,” Cain said. “Because there is an extremely small number of educators of color, and I want to make sure that we increase those numbers and then keep that trend going.”
That approach to education is part of what attracted Cain to the Call Me MISTER program, where he has been the director since 2022. The program, which started nationally in 2000, is an educator mentorship and development effort that aims to place more males of color into elementary and middle schools. Kennesaw State has one of three Call Me MISTER programs in Georgia, with chapters at Georgia Southern University and Georgia College and State University.
“The whole purpose of the Call Me MISTER program, I call it the “Triple R” – and that’s recruit, retain, and raise the 2 percent of males of color that are in education,” Cain said.
At KSU, the program has grown each year for the past four years, with classes of six or seven students now joining each year.
Participants in the Call Me MISTER program, all students in the Bagwell College of Education, gain assistance in ensuring they complete a formal education curriculum and teaching certifications, while also engaging in community outreach activities with area schools. Throughout the process, the students make connections with Black male educators from Georgia schools.
Cain said the program has multiple meetings each year to engage with the MISTERs, including monthly webinars with current educators who talk to the students about their experience in the field. Early this month, the program held the Black Male Empowerment Summit, an all-day event that brought together the MISTERs on campus to gain insights into teaching careers.
“It gives the MISTERs the chance to bond, get to know each other, push each other,” Cain said.
Call Me MISTER also hosts the Future MISTERs Academy, a free event for middle school and high school students held each summer. Over three days, the young students can attend KSU classes, meet with the dean of the Bagwell College, and meet with the MISTERs.
“The whole purpose of that is they can learn more about the Call Me MISTER program and hopefully to build a pipeline for them to become educators,” Cain said.
As more students join Call Me MISTER, Cain said he is preparing to publish research into the effectiveness of the program for students.
“I want the MISTERs to get as much out of the program as possible,” Cain said. “I don’t want to waste anybody’s time. I want it to be as productive as possible.”