SC State becomes 1st HBCU to partner with TSTT to strengthen diverse educator pipeline
SC State signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday with Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Teachers.
ORANGEBURG, S.C. -- South Carolina State University has become the 23rd college or university – and first Historically Black College or University – to partner with a national organization that has helped build effective teachers and leaders in communities since 1994.
University officials joined Dr. Bettye Perkins, founder and chief executive of Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Teachers (TSTT), in signing a memorandum of understanding during a program held Thursday morning in the Fine Arts Auditorium on the SC State campus.
“It’s very important because this is laying the foundation for a bigger vision, a vision that at all of our HBCUs, we can strengthen our teacher education programs,” Perkins said.
SC State continues legacy of teacher education
The TSTT program aims to recruit and train culturally diverse and economically challenged students to become effective teachers. The program focuses on providing mentorship and financial assistance to high school students to help them transition to college and ultimately become educators.
“Today, there have been 1,700 students who have gone through the program and, most importantly, there are 400 alumni teachers and leaders who are giving back and strengthening classrooms and communities across the country,” Perkins said.
Under the MOU, the partnership will support a structured pathway through which high-achieving TSTT participants can pursue undergraduate degrees in teacher education at SC State. The students will also be considered for the incoming freshman Presidential Scholarship through the university’s Dr. Emily England Clyburn Honors College.
The university will award up to five Presidential Scholarships per academic year to qualified TSTT participants beginning in the fall of 2026 and continuing annually through Fall of 2030.
The MOU states that this agreement is intended to support the recruitment and enrollment of one cohort of five students per academic year during this period.
Dr. Frederick Evans, SC State’s provost and vice president of academic affairs, said the partnership helped strengthen the university’s legacy of preparing educators.
“For generations, South Carolina State University has prepared educators to serve in classrooms across South Carolina and beyond, particularly in communities where excellent teachers are most needed,” he said.
“The partnership with Today’s Leaders, Tomorrow’s Teachers, strengthens that legacy by creating intentional, sustainable pathways into the profession. Together we are committing to recruit, mentor and support aspiring educators from high school through college, meeting students early, nurturing their interest in teaching and providing them with the academic preparation, professional mentoring and encouragement needed to persist and succeed,” Evans said.
Dr. M. Evelyn Fields, dean of the SC State College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, said, teacher education is a legacy of SC State.
“We were founded on the premise that we would prepare teachers at a time when opportunity was limited to serve communities that had been historically underserved,” Fields said. “From our very beginning, our mission has been rooted in access, equity and excellence. That mission continues today. We remain deeply committed to diversifying school districts across the state of South Carolina and throughout the nation.”
The dean noted that SC State is proud to have the oldest nationally accredited teacher education program in the state of South Carolina.
“Our history is strong, our standards are high, and our graduates are making an impact in classrooms across the country,” Fields said.
Creating a pipeline of future educators
Dr. Costonzo Bryant-Martin is an assistant professor of teacher education and director of the university’s Call Me MiSTER Program, a national program through which the university is already leading the way in recruiting and training teachers for South Carolina classrooms.
The program is designed to provide a pipeline of highly effective educators to South Carolina’s public schools who will serve their communities as mentors and role models.
Bryant-Martin said he traveled to Westchester, New York, to meet Perkins and other TSTT staff members at the program’s annual Careers in Education Conference.
“During that experience, I witnessed first-hand the remarkable work that Dr. Perkins is leading to help close the teacher diversity gap. I was also privileged to interview several prospective students for our teacher education department. I was deeply impressed by their preparation, their passion and their commitment to becoming educators,” he said.
“What become immediately clear to me is that the excellence I saw in those students was a direct reflection of Dr. Perkins’ vision, leadership and intentional mentorship,” Bryant-Martin said.
Shemar Thomas, a SC State sophomore physical education major from Lake City, South Carolina, is also a member of the Call Me MiSTER Program.
“The reason why I came here to become an educator is because the roots here at South Carolina State are great. Secondly, becoming an educator is something I’ve always wanted to do,” Thomas said.
“Coming from Lake City, we don’t have too many male teachers inside the teaching system, and I always wanted to make that change and be the change. So, I want to go back home after I graduate and make a change,” Thomas said.
A partnership in record time
While it usually takes almost a year for TSTT to formulate partnerships with colleges and universities, Perkins said the one with SC State only took a record time of five months.
SC State President Alexander Conyers said that was because of the help of loyal SC State alumnus and U.S. James Clyburn (D-South Carolina’s 6th District), who attended Thursday’s MOU signing.
“He cares about students -- he cares about education. I want to thank you for decades of support to this university,” said Conyers, who also announced that Clyburn was able to secure $45 million in federal funding for the university.
The president said $30 million would be used for nuclear science research, with the remaining $15 million to be used for a new military science center of excellence, complete with a new ROTC building.
“Within those buildings will be students who will be teachers. Within those professions, we need professors who will teach them. So, this is full circle,” Conyers said. “Many of our ROTC cadets who don’t receive an active-duty commission end up teaching and serving in the South Carlian National Guard or the U.S. Army Reserve.”
The president thanked Clyburn for his leadership and said he looked forward to the TSTT partnership “strengthening our pipeline of educators to our nation.”
Clyburn on the importance of teachers
Clyburn said the partnership between TSTT and SC State was a long time coming.
“Dr. Perkins, the founder of this program, is a native of Lower Richland, South Carolina. She graduated from Hopkins High School, went off to college and did all of her work up in the Northeast,” the legislator said. “But she always wanted to bring this program home, and I think that this program can be for South Carolina State what Call Me MiSTER has been for Clemson University.”
He touted the achievements of the late astronaut and Lake City, South Carolina, native Ron McNair, who tragically died aboard the Challenger space shuttle in 1986.
Clyburn said that McNair had told him about the impact his own teachers had had on his career and praised the partnership between SC State and TSTT to create future educators.
“That’s why programs like this are so important, to get young people coming to this campus from similar backgrounds as Ron McNair came from. Get them to see beyond their circumstances, get them to understand how successful they can be,” he said. “I am where I am today because I started my professional career as a public schoolteacher in Charleston, South Carolina.”
Partnerships matter for school districts
Representatives from the Orangeburg County, Calhoun County, Charleston County and Richland One school districts attended the signing ceremony.
Dr. Shawn Foster, superintendent of Orangeburg County School District, said he was excited about the advantages SC State’s partnership with TSTT would bring.
“It means a lot to me, the fact that we understand that teachers are not just something you add water to and they appear. They’re built. So, the opportunity to start building that interest and those experiences early brings a potential for an even more qualified individual that’s prepared to provide a high-quality education to all students,” Foster said. “I’m thankful that someone had the vision and the courage to establish these types of partnerships.”