Byron Johnson, a proud founding parent of Rocketship Infinity Community Prep, is an art teacher at Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School (TMA), a college preparatory public charter high school in Washington, DC. Since first coming to TMA from 2006-2009 and returning in 2014, Johnson has also served that school community as Dean of Students, Peer Court teacher, Business and Banking Instructor, Yearbook instructor, and a sponsor for multiple afterschool clubs. For the 5 years preceding that move he lived in Niger, West Africa where he taught several courses including English Language Arts, history, art, English as a Second Language, and physical education/health to middle and high school students at the American International School of Niamey. Johnson also lived and worked in Monrovia, Liberia near the conclusion of their civil war; he taught at the University of Liberia, and had consultancies with the Christian Children’s Fund and the Armed Forces of Liberia that focused on art as a vehicle to promote peace and economic recovery. Johnson began his career in 2001 in his hometown of Washington, D.C. at Friendship Collegiate Academy, one of the city’s first public charter high schools. Throughout his career he’s worked to develop well rounded students who have an appreciation for academic rigor, creative pursuits and good mental health. Johnson studied in Mallorca, Spain where he earned a master’s degree in education with a specialization in secondary education in an international school setting from The College of New Jersey in 2015 and holds a Master in Business Administration from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University where he graduated magna cum laude in 2000.