JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Ones Black Male Collective is designed to develop, retain and recruit Black male educators in Duval County public schools.
“We have about 300 or so in our system. That’s low," Duval County School Board Chairman Darryl Willie said. "We have about 6 percent of all teachers in Duval county are black men so we would love to get that percentage and increase that."
Willie says this inaugural event had more than 200 black educators from across the district.
The Ones Black Male Collective is an initiative by the Jacksonville Public Education Fund to hire and retain 1,000 Hispanic and Black males by 2025.
“There so much emphasis on recruiting teachers in general, and I think one of the things we’re trying to do is also pair that down, and how do we get more intentional," Willie said. "And I think the way we do that is we try and recruit black men."
Darrick Seymore is a math teacher at Mandarin Middle School said he is excited to be a part of an opportunity to bring more Black teachers into the fold.
“I can’t tell you how many students say I've had that made it to the 8th grade and I'm the first black male teacher they had in their life," Seymore said.
Nick Nelson teaches at Sabal Palm Elementary School. He says he works at a school where many teachers don’t look like him
“To see students that don’t look like us and to represent people that don’t look like them and to teach them that people are different," Nelson said. "There’s not reason to fear us. We are trusted adults just like any other teacher."
Willie says The Ones Black Male Collective will be in full swing after spring break.
“These folks who are here today take on a leadership role, it’s not about me leading its about our educators in our classrooms leading," Willie said. "Because who knows best how to support the folks in the classroom the folks who are in the classroom."