The My Hero Project Supports the Laguna Beach Boy's and Girl's Club

MY HERO Media Arts Director and Laguna Beach artist Robin Wethe Altman (Photo courtesy of Robin Wethe Altman)

The My Hero Project has been working with ,the Laguna Beach Boy's and Girls Club on a project called "Celebrate Heroism." Celebrate Heroism was made possible by a generous grant from the Laguna Beach Community Foundation and Massen Greene Foundation.

Students at the Laguna Beach Boys and Girls Club hold up the mural they painted drawn by Robin Altman (Photo courtesy of Robin Wethe Altman)

Celebrate Heroism is a workshop program in which children experience and create inspirational media related to heroes working in wildlife fields, ecological or emergency disaster relief and prevention. Developed by The MY HERO Project and initially implemented at the Laguna Beach Boys and Girls Club, Celebrate Heroism will be a model program that enables participants to contemplate heroism, discuss heroic deeds and figures, create inspirational media and share it with others through myhero.com, the Laguna Hero Fest and partnering venues.

Students got to paint a mural drawn by Laguna Beach artist Robin Wethe Altman (Photo courtesy of Robin Wethe Altman)

Wendy Milett, one of the organizers of the My Hero Project, asked me to help the Boy's and Girls create art banner that illustrated their studies at Crystal Cove. The Crystal Cove has been a generous supporter of the Boy's and Girl's Club, funding trips to Crystal Cove so that the kids can learn about our local environment.

I was very impressed to see the intense interest the children had in the art project. Take a look at these pictures and you will see how valuable art is to the minds and souls of these kids. Combining art with teaching children about the environment is a highly effective learning tool.

Laguna Beach Boys and Girls Club student poses for a picture during the mural painting (Photo courtesy of Robin Wethe Altman)

The MY HERO Project was founded in 1995 by Karen Pritzker, Jeanne Meyers and Rita Stern as a response to the lack of positive role models in the media for children. This not-for-profit website was built on the belief that people of all ages from around the world would participate by sharing stories, art and short films that illuminate heroes from all walks of life.

Laguna Beach Boys and Girls Club Art Director Emily and her students paint the wonderful Robin Altman mural (Photo courtesy of Robin Wethe Altman)

What began as a simple idea has now become a global learning community that bridges the digital divide, promotes peace and tolerance and allows people around the globe to have their voices heard in a safe, commercial-free and child-friendly environment. This has been accomplished through building our multimedia journal and digital library, providing support for thousands of teachers who use project-based learning in their classrooms, and making media arts education available to those in underrepresented communities so all can take part in this award-winning project.

This is the My Hero website: http://myhero.com

Laguna owes a lot to these organizations that work so hard to inspire our youth!