Today we’d like to introduce you to Shareefah Mason.
Hi Shareefah, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am originally from New Orleans, Louisiana. I’m a Hurricane Katrina transplant to Dallas. While displaced, Dallas ISD offered a free alternative certification class for evacuees. I attended the 6-week program and was introduced to my unknown love of education. I became a 7th grade Texas History teacher at Boude Storey Middle School in the 75216 zip code of Oak Cliff, one of Dallas’ most impoverished areas and 15 years later, I have only taught in this zip code! Imagine being a first year teacher and your first role is to teach Texas History but you’re from Louisiana…the irony!!!! I learned Texas History and motivated my students to unprecedented student achievement on district assessments. Eventually I became a U.S. History teacher and have served successfully in that role for many years.
Throughout my tenure, I was an instructional coach at South Oak Cliff High School, cultivating teacher efficacy. I later became a Government, Economics and African American History teacher at New Tech High School, which is Dallas ISD’s first Project Based Learning (PBL) model. In 2020, I was awarded with the esteemed distinction of State of Texas Master Teacher by the Texas Education Agency, which has been the most amazing honor because I garnered this acknowledgment without ever leaving the students who needed me most.
This impressive distinction is awarded to teachers across the state, who have consistent and solid student achievement performance on state assessments and exemplified leadership and contributions to the field of education. Currently, I am teaching U.S. History at Sarah A. Zumwalt Middle School, serving in my second stint in Dallas ISD’s unprecedented and transformational initiative, Accelerating Campus Excellence (ACE) which brings the district’s most distinguished teachers to its most struggling schools with innovative approaches to revitalize student achievement at select campuses.
The work that I have done in the last fifteen years, has created many opportunities to expand my leadership in the educational space. I currently serve on the State Board for Educator Certification as a decisionmaker on the policies and protocol that govern educators across Texas. I am also a Presidential Leadership Scholar, making program history as the first teacher to be selected into an outstandingly accomplished groups of leaders who are gamechangers across diverse industries throughout the world. More importantly I serve as a Senior Research Fellow for Teach Plus, a national education policy and advocacy group that amplifies the voices of teachers across the country. I recently led the writing of the trailblazing paper To Be Who We Are: Black Teachers on Creating Affirming School Cultures. https://bit.ly/3omhVnu
As a dedicated educator, my gifts have made room for me and I have been recognized at the local, regional and national levels. Some of my highest commendations have been: National Life Changer of the Year Winner 2019, National Life Changer Top 50 Honor Roll 2018, Dr. William H. Cotton $20,000 Doctoral Scholarship 2017, Rotary Club of Dallas Teacher of the Year 2015, State of Texas Outstanding American History Teacher 2015 and Dallas Sons of the American Revolution Outstanding American History Teacher 2014.
I have self-published four books on education: If I Can Make It Here, I Can Make It Anywhere: The Survival Guide for Teachers in Urban Schools; Gearing Up for Administration: 15 Steps to Leading the Best; The Art of Perfecting the Learning Connection: 9 Vital Steps to Effective Professional Learning Communities and Vocation or Vacation, That Is The Question: The Guide to Enticing African-American Males Back Into the Classroom.
Along with my books, I have also written several powerful Op-Eds for various revered educational publications including: George Floyd is Proof America Needs More Black Teachers https://educationpost.org/george-floyd-is-proof-america-needs-more-black-teachers/; I Had A Teacher Who Looked Like Me https://www.tribtalk.org/2019/10/07/i-had-a-teacher-who-looked-like-me/; Black Kids Are English Language Learners Too https://indy.education/2019/03/10/black-kids-are-ells-too/ and most recently I was featured in the invigorating, nationally syndicated article: “Texas teachers say GOP’s new social studies law will hinder how an entire generation understands race, history and current events” https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/03/texas-critical-race-theory-social-studies-teachers/.
Of all of the work I have had the pleasure to be a part of in the educational space, I am most proud of my Executive Producer title of the 2021 film From the Block, which reveals the unspoken traumas of impoverished African American, Latino and White students in Oak Cliff’s 75216 zip code. The film highlights recollections of diverse students and educators in the area, as they share intimate stories of how they intricately navigated racism, immigration issues, ostracism, peer deaths, incarceration and blatant communal inequities with the support and love of the incomparable Black teachers and educators that guided them throughout their educational journeys. I am so excited because the film was just accepted into the International Film Festival Docs Without Borders in the Reform and Revolution Category. It will compete for awards against films across the world. I am so honored that this prestigious festival saw value in my film. https://www.facebook.com/fromtheblockdocumentary/videos/5185860704817549
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The road has been extremely challenging. I had to learn a new way of life in a new city during a very inopportune time. I lost most of my possessions after Hurricane Katrina and I had to try my very best to replace everything I once had. I was a new wife and mother with a one-year-old who didn’t understand that we were forced to move to a new place and leave our family behind in New Orleans. I had to find a way to process my tremendous feelings of the unknown while trying to remain positive in a very unconventional and devastating situation. The impact of Hurricane Katrina on my life has definitely been about turning tragedy into triumph, which is a motto I continue to amplify.
Becoming a teacher was a huge challenge. But, I decided that I was going to work hard, invest in my professional development and educate myself. I did this to become exactly what my disenfranchised Black and Brown students needed. They were in dire need of a cheerleader, corrector, caretaker and most importantly an example of someone who looked like them, understood their lived experiences and still persevered when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Personally, working in education has been a challenge because my family is extremely important to me. I have sacrificed a lot of time traveling across the country to present at educational conferences on my innovative ideas to revolutionize the educational space for ALL students with an explicit emphasis of ensuring transformation in educational milieus for marginalized Black and Brown students. Although I am dedicated to my work, I have found a sustainable work-life balance, which is very important for educators. I want my daughters to understand that grit and determination are what prepare you to face life’s challenges head on. I also impress upon them that they are first-generation ‘un-impoverished’, as I call it, and have a responsibility to fight for the intentionally silenced.
My husband Dwayne and I both grew up in New Orleans forced to navigate and overcome trauma, poverty and a failing public school system. Therefore, it is our children’s obligation to ensure they never forget where their parents come from or the intense challenges they conquered and become co-conspirators in the disruptive and unpretty work that will liberate impoverished Black and Brown people across the country. I want my daughters Sanai (17) and Saidah (13) to see me tirelessly working to build an educational space that is truly equitable for impoverished students of color and diversifying a teacher pipeline of effective educators that mirrors America’s students while eradicating the opportunity gap that stifles students of color across the country!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a teacher on all levels, so I am constantly creating innovative spaces to have unapologetic dialogue about changes we need to make to level the playing field for our most vulnerable and underrepresented communities. Recently I was awarded with an Arts Activate Grant from The City of Dallas. I used the funding to execute NeighborHOOD Swap Dallas. I brought together multi-generational Black, White and Latinos across the city to participate in several thought-provoking and disruptive activities that loudly addressed the systemic racial issues in the city and the need to eradicate them.
We visited The Millermore Plantation, compared store chains in various parts of the city to expose disparities, explored the evolution of gentrification in Dallas, engaged in diverse activities that unlocked our similarities, facilitated authentic dialogue led by Black, Brown and White Dallas race experts, read thought-provoking articles and created plans to diminish antagonistic racial structures throughout the city. Providing this awesome experience to Dallas citizens, encouraging them to embrace the collaborative power necessary to reverse the racial climate in Dallas was reinvigorating.
Now, I want to partner with Dallas’ most thriving corporations and organizations to engage their decisionmakers in the NeighborHOOD Swap Dallas experience. It is imperative that business leaders in the city are aware of the disparities that stifle certain communities and perpetuate others. Executives must be committed to the development of a plan that will truly authenticate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) across the Dallas metropolis. Dallas business owners have to understand that their DEI dollars should be shared with grassroots organizations that are truly committed to revolutionizing the racial landscape in the city, which will positively and equitably transform the economic structure as well. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G4ynnlUDE_18VuFXBMectpr17t9vH_35/view?usp=sharing
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was very outgoing growing up. I had two AMAZING parents, Sharif and Taahirah Nadir, that taught me to do the right thing, even when no one was watching and I tried my best to exemplify that. They also taught me to do my very best in any space I presented myself. These two edicts have been the ideologies that have motivated me throughout my life. I was raised as a Muslim and the principled ideals of the religion truly cultivated my leadership abilities. I learned to ALWAYS stand up for what is right, to help others that were less fortunate and commit myself to exemplifying a moral code that would showcase my integrity at all times.
I played in the orchestra as a violin, cello and bass player from second grade to senior year and played many team sports during the same time. These experiences were paramount in my understanding of the power of collaboration and leadership. Although I didn’t know it then, those opportunities allowed me to hone the interpersonal communication and motivational skills necessary to embrace diverse groups of people with respect and show up as an exemplar they would be willing to follow.
Contact Info:
- Email: shareefahmason12@yahoo.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fromtheblockdocumentary
