Focus: HOPE Excel Winter/Spring 2019 Semester Mentor

I accepted a position as a Focus: HOPE Excel photography class mentor for 5th - 8th grader students. The semester started on January 22nd and runs through May 21st. The class is on Tuesday nights starting at 4:25 PM and ends at 7:00 PM. Each class sessions have different objectives from class room photography exercises to going on local field trips to places like Guardian Building and Hart Plaza, Troy Nature Center, Detroit Riverfront/Skyline, Belle Isle, and Mexicantown.

It brings me great pleasure to mentor these students and to see how they grow their photography skills from week to week.

Focus: HOPE Excel Fall 2018

In the fall of 2018 while volunteering for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Detroit River I was contacted to mentor a group of 5th - 8th graders from Focus: HOPE Excel Photography Class on wildlife photography.   These students attend a weekly photography class and have different levels of skills.

I accepted the challenge since this would be my first time working with kids. This would include a class room overview and a field trip to Gibraltar Refuge (on the Detroit River).

The classroom session covered my wildlife photography experiences, photography techniques, wildlife ethics, and lessons learned. After the class we went a local park which had lots of waterfowl for the students to practice what they learned.

The field trip took place on a Saturday afternoon.  We had 18 students with the teacher and mentors.  We split the students into 4 groups where I would spend time with each group as we explored the Gibraltar Refuge. There were many opportunities to photograph the fall landscapes, Blue Herons, and several Bald Eagles flying at tree top level.

This was a tremendous experience for these students and myself.  To see the joy on their faces as they would explore and see the results of their photographs was a wonderful experience for me.