Global Outreach
	Discovering and celebrating real life heroes from around the world has been a priority for this project. As a result, MY HERO has conducted training workshops for educators around the world.  MY HERO is a proud partner of the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN.org), the world’s largest non-profit global network that enables young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to engage in collaborative educational projects that both enhance learning and make a difference in the world.  MY HERO has participated in iEARN conferences in Moscow, Russia in 2002; Osaka, Japan in 2003; Kosice, Slovakia in 2004; and, most recently, Dakar, Senegal in 2005.  This year MY HERO joined Global SchoolNet, a not-for-profit organization that has been linking classrooms around the world since 1984.  MY HERO CD-ROMS, videos and DVDs have been provided to educators in Russia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Uganda, Botswana, Iran, China, Indonesia, Belarus, Egypt, Spain, Colombia, Mexico, Australia, Canada and many other nations. Committed educators from around the world are eager to take part in all aspects of The MY HERO Project.

MY HERO participated in the following conferences and outreach activities in 2005:

Heroes in Our Lives - a year long intiative.
Sponsored by the New Haven Free Public Library. Librarians, community and literacy organizations, and funders came together to provide after-school programming and community-wide events to celebrate heroes and to encourage reading.

National Educational Computing Conference (NECC)
The world’s largest and most comprehensive educational technology event focuses on the use of computers by students and education professionals. More than 16,800 educators and exhibit personnel attend this annual conference.

National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)
The annual gathering of independent school leaders, administrators, and teachers highlights new ideas and/or best practices on topics in communications, leadership and governance, management, equity and justice, global education, sustainability, personal and professional development, and teaching and learning.

Development Without Limits
Eric Gurna, director of this program, works with community-based organizations, after-school programs, and other educational institutions to develop curriculum. Eric has used MY HERO at the YMCA and other after-school programs to help children discover role models and create their own MY HERO Web pages.

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Celebrity Event
Over $1 million is raised at this annual event to help increase public awareness and provide funding for research, care and treatment to children and families affected by AIDS.

eBus Educational Technology Conference
Sponsored by the Community College Foundation.
The eBus is a mobile demonstration lab complete with 13 computer stations that feature innovative and effective instructional programs in digital learning. Administrators, Technology Directors, teachers, and staff step on board for a hands-on experience with the best in digital learning programs.

National Media Education Conference (NMEC)
The conference seeks to promote the rights of all people to communicate within and beyond their communities, tell their own stories and access the information they need.

iEARN BRIDGE Conference
The BRIDGE Program (Building Respect through Internet Dialogue and Global Education) promotes online dialogue, communication and educational collaboration between teachers and students in the Middle East, South Asia, and the United States. The BRIDGE Program aims to build institutional ties and understanding and cooperation between US and Arab Muslim youth.

21st Century Community Learning Centers
The focus of Community Learning Centers is to provide expanded academic enrichment opportunities for children attending low performing schools.

12th iEARN World Conference in Dakar, Senegal
The conference aims to highlight teachers’ and students’ needs to improve the quality of education and raise awareness in terms of project-based learning to achieve the iEARN objective: “Connecting Youth…Making a Difference in the World.”

Global Interactions Education Conference
The conference expands understanding among American and Chinese counterparts through the exchange of best practices, research, and technologies.

Laguna Beach Unified School District Teacher Training
Teachers demonstrate the project and provide instruction on integrating MY HERO into classroom curriculum at an in-service program on computer literacy.

Learning Circles, a project of iEARN
Learning Circles facilitate Internet and communication technology-assisted collaborative, project-based learning among classrooms in diverse regions of the world.

Laguna College of Art & Design
The college’s donation of the use of its state-of-the-art Apple Lab enables MY HERO Film Festival Director Wendy Milette to host a summer media workshop for the community.