My Hero: Stories, Art and Films Celebrating Heroes Around the Globe

Purpose & objective

Heroes give us hope and inspiration. In our globally connected world, we have a great opportunity to learn from one another, to exchange stories, art, and films that honor those who are tackling the great challenges of our time and working to improve the quality of life for all. We use media, art and technology on MY HERO to celebrate the best of humanity, one story at a time. Together with teachers and students, professional writers, artists and filmmakers we have been building an online library of hope that is used in classrooms around the world. Students are encouraged to become reporters and to use their skills as writers, artists and filmmakers to shine a light on local and global heroes in their lives. Teachers have access to tutorials, lesson plans curated by the MY HERO staff, as well as other resources, that are available in the MY HERO Teachers Room. Educators are given access to tools to manage and curate their students' work and to create media play lists from our library filled with thousands of stories, art and films to enrich learning in their classrooms around the world. MY HERO is an online journal, library and story telling platform that is child friendly, commercial free, and serves as a resource for millions of students and life learners online around the world.

Supporting research

MY HERO annually participates in The Global Education Conference, iEARN.org global conference and youth summit. MY HERO is featured in the Institute for Democratic Education in America's web site. We have presented over the years at several ISTE conferences in the Global Gallery. Our book, My Hero: Extraordinary People on the Heroes Who Inspire Them was published by Simon and Schuster in 2005 and includes essays from Mohamed Ali, Senator John Glen, Nobel prize winner Wangari Maathai and more. Creating Standards-Based Integrated Curriculum: The Common Core State by Susan M. Drake includes MY HERO as a resource. There are over 1000 educational web sites that link to MY HERO as a resource. Our library of over 3000 short films enriches learning in classrooms around the globe. Winners from our international film festival include Sal Khan, Esther Wojicki, and more. We have built Media Arts Resources to help teachers and students make short hero films. MY HERO has grown with support from teachers, students and parents around the globe and received a 5 Star Learning Rating from Common Sense Education in 2020.