My Hero Newsletters

The MY HERO Project is an online educational resource used in classrooms around the world. For over seven years, this not-for-profit Web site has provided a venue for people of all ages to research and contribute inspirational hero stories. MY HERO invites you and your students to celebrate the best of humanity by contributing your vision to this interactive online journal.

The MY HERO Short Film Festival invites all Media Makers to submit their work and be eligible for prizes! Winners will be featured online in the MY HERO Virtual Screening Room before a global audience of thousands. Create short digital movies and share in the ancient ritual of storytelling to honor heroes from around the world. In celebration of the short format, we are accepting submissions in four categories: Narrative, Experimental/Musical, Documentary and Animation. The following link to the Film Festival gives all the details on how to submit a short film and offers guidelines on how to make one!

Please also visit the MY HERO Virtual Screening Room to view currently featured short films.

The deadline for the MY HERO Short Film Festival has been extended to
August 1, 2005. Please add your vision to this project.

MY HERO is proud to present the international debut exhibition of AFRICAN MOSAICS OF UGANDA, an exhibition of artwork from the OPEN VISION YOUTH CLUB art teachers and students, at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California from February 14 through March 10, 2005. Please visit the MY HERO Gallery to view the beautiful mosaics of David Basasira and Julio Lukwago and their students in Entebbe.

We encourage all artists and students to contribute their vision of heroism to the MY HERO Gallery, as well. Share your art globally and reach out to our Web audience.

Susanne Nobles

More and more educators are using the eCreate tool to make a directory page of their students' hero stories. Not only can teachers create an index page of students' stories, but they can also organize content for lesson plans on various topics. Many teachers are linking their classroom index pages to their school's Web site so students and parents can easily read the students' work.

eCreate is easy to use. Simply register and follow the easy step-by-step instructions. The MY HERO staff is always ready and available to help you with any questions along the way.

Lynn DiMatteo and her students

Read what Lynn DiMatteo of Memorial Middle School in New Jersey shared about her experience using MY HERO in her 6th grade classroom:

When I first was introduced to The My Hero Project, I immediately realized what a wonderful opportunity this would be for my students. As a teacher of writing, I am always looking for ways to motivate my sixth graders to write about a topic that is important to them and to provide them with a real audience outside of our classroom. Ever aware of the need to focus on positive role models, the idea of having my students choose their own heroes would also afford them the opportunity to think clearly about what they value in a person. Our classroom discussions on what we value in others, who are heroes, and who we wish to emulate in our lives, proved to me that our young children are indeed special and know what qualities are important for them to possess. Their choice of heroes, whether famous or personal to them, was inspirational. Their desire to do justice to the person they chose was admirable. Once they had chosen their hero, the detailed research and personal interviews that followed made each story unique and well written. Each left an impact on me personally because I knew the author and the work that had been accomplished.

I have 105 new heroes in my life, each of my students who demonstrated the wonderful qualities they possess just by their choices of who their heroes are. I am so proud of each of them. Thank you MY HERO for helping us all to grow by encouraging us to think about each other. This project will be a yearly event in my classroom.

Visit Lynn DiMatteo's eCreate index page of her students' stories and view the possibilities and applications of this tool for your own classroom.

MY HERO is proud to be a part of "The Heroes in Our Lives" learning program hosted by the New Haven Free Public Library. Storyteller, Abigail Jefferson, center, of Rhode Island tells stories of black heroes during the event.

If you or your organization are interested in hosting a MY HERO workshop or event, please contact myhero@myheroproject.org

Grant News

MY HERO is the proud recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant to further develop the science and technology portion of the Web site.

Tap the Teacher's Room for lesson plans, daily and thematic calendars, and resources to use in the classroom.

Explore the CREATE Program where students can create a personal Web page with words, images and links to honor their heroes.

Add entries to the Guestbook to honor heroes from all walks of life. Entries are launched live online.

Comment and share ideas about "Choosing your heroes" in the MY HERO Forum.

Honor and read about heroes in Spanish on Mi Heroe.

Envision heroism in the Gallery where students have the opportunity to submit their authentic and original digital media to display to the world.

Research books about heroes in the MY HERO Library.

Supplement social studies, science, and language arts curriculum with stories about Heroes in the News from the Associated Press.