New Teacher Feature: Mr. Maseman, computer science teacher and artist

Walking into the computer science classroom at DePaul College Prep, you are greeted with robotics kits, monitors to display various bits of code, rows of computer monitors for students to work with, and most importantly, Mr. Maseman, the computer science teacher.

Mr. Raymond Maseman is a new teacher at DePaul College Prep this school year. He teaches Computer Science classes at the school, as well as a colloquium called “Layers upon Layers: Creating and Reflecting Through Collage.” 

Maseman has been teaching for over 20 years, and he has taught math, art, computer science, and elementary school, as well as being a librarian, at many different schools. He has taught at a wide variety of schools in the Chicagoland area, including North Lawndale College Prep, New Trier High School, and schools in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Maseman attended Wheeling High School and graduated from the University of Denver as an art major, as well as from the University of New Mexico with a Masters in technology education. He started trying for a masters several times, and succeeded the final time partially because he told himself, “this time I’m just going to do it.” 

Maseman’s college experience was “both exciting and disappointing,” he says. “There was lots of new stuff to learn, lots of people to meet.” He says college allowed him to be free and creative and explore his own ideas, which he enjoyed.“I just like ideas a lot,” he said.

Maseman’s favorite class to teach is computer science because it combines the parts of math he likes with the parts of art he likes, without as much of the things he dislikes. Maseman is also a practicing artist, in addition to being a teacher. He does collage art and printmaking. Some of his work can be found at his website, www.raymaseman.com. He says he’s been doing art for “as far back as [he] can remember.” 

Who had the biggest impact on him when he was younger? His high school art teacher, he says. “He was just an impactful person, and I think it’s because he created a space in which we could learn about things and experiment with things artistically.” 

When asked if he had advice for students, Maseman said his best advice is to keep moving forward, no matter what obstacles you may face. A successful student to him is one who “tries to figure things out” and “engages, even if [they] don’t feel like it that day.” He encourages students to have good habits and to always “ask more questions.”