Meet Calvin, the CCBS Academic Dean
Teaching CCBS Style | ‘Meet the Teachers’ Series
At CCBS, we celebrate our teachers year-round!
We invite you to learn more about “Teaching CCBS Style” in our blog feature where we highlight each member of our teaching team and their approach to making a difference in the lives of our CCBS students.
As students everywhere head back to school, we sat down with our Academic Dean, Calvin Croxton, to get to know more about him and his approach to helping students learn!
Calvin joined the team in 2019. He brings impressive experience and certification in education including a Master of Ed in Gifted Learning, an MA Degree in History, and Certification in Autism Education. He is currently working on his Ed D. (Doctorate of Education) in Special Education.
Where did your teaching career begin?
I’ve taught Social Studies / History in public and private schools in Anderson and Greenville SC, and at Tri-County Technical College in Pendleton SC, but my teaching career began in the U.S. Navy where I served for 23 years. In 2008, I led the training for more than 450 Seabees as they prepared for deployment to Iraq. In 2009, I was deployed to Iraq where I served as the Head of the Training Department, facilitating training in a combat zone. After returning from Iraq, I was part of a mobile training team and taught orienteering, land navigation, map / compass reading, combat arms, First Aid / CPR and more to Seabees in various parts of the eastern U.S.
What is an important key to successful learning?
People often assume that if you are not succeeding in school, you have learning challenges or are lazy. It’s important to remember that learning is more than academic knowledge and testing. There is a whole social and emotional aspect of learning that is critical and often overlooked. Unfortunately, this inhibits many students’ ability to learn.
What are some key components of learning at CCBS?
Boys Can Be Boys! We are a “Gurian Model School” which means we base our program on meeting the needs of how boys learn. Research shows that most boys need an active and experiential approach to education, so we apply that to our program. For example, in our science class, the boys are often out in nature learning firsthand from the environment.
We Address the Whole Child! A student’s academic success is often impacted by their therapeutic needs. We start by learning about each student’s challenges, strengths and weaknesses. Then we customize a program to help each student succeed, including their social and emotional needs.
Our Team! When hiring our teachers, we emphasize how they relate to our students. Yes, they need to know their subject matter, but an even bigger piece of the puzzle is how they interact with the boys. We know that most students don’t care how much you know … until they know how much you care!”
What do you enjoy most about your role as Academic Dean?
One of the best parts of my job is the genuine appreciation we get from the families and the boys. Many parents feel their child will never succeed in school, let alone enjoy it. As our students graduate, parents often tell us how the changes have been dramatic, and very unexpected and that he is doing great. And that is very rewarding.