The My Hero Project
The My Hero Project is a U.S. based nonprofit organization that promotes the use of new media and technology to "celebrate the best of humanity and empowers young people to realize their own potential to effect positive change in the world". The My Hero Project is a freely available digital media library and set of online resources to help people make and share hero-themed essays, images, web pages, audio clips and films with a global audience.
The Teacher’s Room provides tools for educators to utilize in bringing the study of heroes into the classroom. The project both complements existing curricula and provides independent instruction to encourage, train and equip students around the world to creatively express their visions of heroes. Through guided activities, participants develop strong video, media production and digital story telling skills. MY HERO curricula advance communication skills and critical thinking. Participants can also choose to join the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN), a network of connected classrooms that enables prompted collaboration between classes.
The My Hero Project regularly offers educational media workshops in the U.S. and other countries to help teachers, students and adults gain necessary technological skills to not only share their hero stories but also to effectively compete in a challenging job market. A Cultural Arts Exchange Grant from the U.S. State Department funded the Global Exchange Project, in which MY HERO media arts educators traveled to the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Senegal and Jordan to conduct media and video workshops. Through these workshops and the digital media library, My Hero Project uses artistic expression to bridge religious, political and language barriers and promotes greater cultural awareness.
The MY HERO International Film Festival, held annually, showcases films submitted by children and adults worldwide and recognizes commercial media that calls attention to real life heroes. Two major awards are presented at the festival: the MY HERO Media award to honor an exceptional activist and the Ron Kovic Peace Prize to honor the film that best exemplifies the theme of peace. The annual MY HERO Local Film Festival highlights the best local submissions and celebrates heroes in the organization’s home-town of Laguna Beach, California.
Traffic to the MY HERO website currently averages over 700,000 visits per month, accessing over 2 million pages of content. Thirty-seven classrooms participated in the iEARN learning circle last semester (Spring 2010). In 2009, the My Hero Project website received 429,713,027 hits from 5,688,348 visitors in 194 countries. The Teacher’s Room has over 51,645 participants annually.
History
The My Hero Project was founded in 1995 by a group of concerned parents to offset the lack of positive role models in the media. They decided to call attention to uplifting stories about people who make a positive difference in the world. Television producer Jeanne Meyers, philanthropist Karen Pritzker and documentary film producer Rita Stern established the MY HERO Project website and began gathering stories about heroes from around the world. Over the last 25 years, My Hero has partnered with iEARN.org, The Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum, Tech-Ed, The National Educational Computing Conference, The American Film Institute Silver Doc’s Workshops, KOCE-OC, Art Miles Mural Project and other internationally recognized nonprofit educational organizations.