Clemson's Roy Jones named one of the 'Most Creative Teachers in the South'

Published: October 27, 2011

By Raquel Cobb

CLEMSON — Clemson University’s Roy Jones has been named one of the “Most Creative Teachers in the South” by Oxford American magazine.

Jones is the executive director for the Eugene T. Moore School of Education’s Call Me MISTER (Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models) Program. The goal of the program is to place more teachers from diverse cultures and backgrounds in the classrooms of low performing elementary schools. Call Me MISTER started at Clemson University, but originally was delivered at some of the state’s historically black colleges, including Claflin University, where Jones was dean.

The initiative provides for tuition assistance through scholarship and loan forgiveness programs for admitted students pursuing approved programs of study in teacher education at participating colleges, an academic support system to help assure the graduates' success and a cohort system for social and cultural support.

Call Me MISTER launched in 2000, and now has 75 graduates who are certified teachers. Today, there are 160 students in the program at its 15 partner colleges.

Call Me MISTER also has received recognition from other national media, including USA Today, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and ABC World News; and celebrities Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby.

Jones has effectively implemented and directed numerous programs in higher education throughout his career, and has presented several workshops, seminars, forums and panel discussions surrounding racial and cultural issues in education.

Jones received his doctorate from the University of Georgia, master's from Atlanta University and bachelor's from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In 2009, Jones was named the recipient of the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education’s Pacesetter Award.

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