My name is Danielle Mason. I am a 3^rd Year CTE teacher, serving as the JY Commercial Photography Teacher. I previously taught 9^th grade English at Yates many moons ago and am blessed to say that Yates has been an integral part of me finding my purpose in teaching. I am a mother of 3, currently expecting my 4^th and LAST baby lol. A proud product of HISD. Although I went to Lamar, I still ended up at Yates' prom. 

 

This year I will be teaching Comm Photo I and II, and am excited to build upon the success of our previous years, in which the path has been laid before us by legacy photographer Ray Carrington III. Mr. Carrington held the position of JY's photography teacher for 28 years and has left a solid blueprint that I hope to extend and amplify.

 

Some of our 2023-24 successes: We maintained another year of partnership with FotoFest, a Houston-based arts organization that seeks to advance the realm of photography. They provided teaching artists who would come into the classroom once a week to facilitate advanced learning opportunities, which resulted in the Looking Up exhibition which was on view at the FotoFest Biennial and is currently on view at Bush Intercontinental Airport through the end of the year. 

 

We also continued our involvement in the Eye on Houston exhibition, which is on view through the end of September at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, where 15 of our photography students currently have work on view. 

 

I could go on about the wonderful students who took advantage of the many opportunities to share their skills with the community, participating at Jazzy Sundays with self-made photo booth experiences and other events where they experienced first hand the ability to make a profit from their skills, or even the opportunity one of our seniors had to document alongside HISD media last year.

 

Needless to say, I truly enjoy being in this role and am excited to see what this year brings.