Celebrates the benefits of international education and global exchange.
Global Education Week
Credit: MY HERO
Teachers: Visit the free MY HERO Lesson Plan for International Education Week. Includes discussion guide and learning outcomes.
Watch and listen to these salons hosted by Eva Haller in discussion with global educators
Eva Haller Salon - Dr. Mandeep Rai
Eva Haller
Eva Haller Salon - Dr. Sakena Yacoobi & Rev. Chloe Breyer
Eva Haller
Eva Haller Salon Frances Moore Lappé
Audio verison of the salon hosted by Eva Haller
Film
Watch the following films about global educators.
Media Arts Educator | Holly Carter
BYKids
Holly Carter is a leader in media arts production with youth around the world
WOJ!
Produced by:by Jeanne Meyers & Wendy Milette
Esther Wojcicki shares her vision for a Moonshot Movement in Education.
Yasmine Sherif Global Educator Award Winner
Kitty Richardson
Congratulations to Yasmine Sherif, the Director of Education Cannot Wait and the winner of the 2020 Global Educator Award.
Power of Compassion & Importance of the Work of CCARE
CCARE at Stanford University
Dr. James Doty, speaks on the power of compassion and importance of the work of CCARE
Supercharging the Classroom: Using Technology to Support Personalized Learning
Produced by:Edutopia
Sal Khan founded a school on the same principles of personalization that drove the success of his YouTube tutorials.
Pedal=Sight
Producer: Jacob & Isaac Seigel-Boettner
An Indian girl gains a bicycle, and the will to achieve.
Iqra - Read (A Prayer for the Girls of Afghanistan and Pakistan)
Producer: Fauzia Minallah
This film promotes the education of the girl child in Afghanistan and Pakistan through Mural Art.
Teaching to Live
Produced by:Andre Guttfreund
A teacher hero trains children to be self-sufficient environmentalists.
The MY HERO Report II - Rowena Gerber
Producer: Skip Blumberg
Miami teacher Rowena Gerber inspires students to save our environment.
Connecting Through the Beat
Producer: Sally Nellson Barrett
Kristin Lukow is an elementary school music teacher with an unorthodox approach to education that has parents and students inspired.
Japan Art Mile
Producer: Cheikh Seck
Atsuku Shiraku shares her enthusiasm for global peace through collaborative art murals.
Cheikh Darou Seck - Global Educator
Producer: MY HERO
Cheikh Darou Seck is the 2009 winner of the MY HERO Global Educator Award.
Eradication of Malaria in Botswana
Producer: Tommie Hamaluba from BOTSWANA
Tommie Hamaluba works incessantly in the fight against malaria in Botswana.
Ed Gragert - Special Hero Award
Producer: MY HERO
Ed Gragert was honored at the 2009 MY HERO Film Festival with a Special Hero Award.
Jerrilyn Jacobs - Media Arts Educator Award 2017
Produced by:Evan Morton
Jerrilyn Jacobs has been inspiring students to create meaningful media for over a decade. MY HERO salutes her dedication as a teacher and director of the Taft Media Program.
Global TV spotlights the My Hero Project in a classroom.
Meet Logan Smalley - Founder of TED-Ed
Logan Smalley: Founder of TED-Ed
By: Abigail Richardson
Logan Smalley is the founding director of TED-Ed—a program offering that serves millions of teachers and students every day.
Interview with Logan Smalley, Founder of TED-Ed
By: Naomi Gledhill
Read MY HERO's interview with filmmaker and founder of TED-Ed, Logan Smalley.
Stories about teacher heroes from around the world
The following stories feature hero educators who change the way we learn.
Dr. Mandeep Rai – MY HERO's 2022 Global Educator
By: Abigail Richardson
Dr. Rai, author of The Values Compass wins MY HERO 2022 Global Educator Award.
Zoe Weil: An Educator Who Inspires Compassion and Change
By: Abigail Richardson
Zoe Weil is the co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education and is considered a pioneer in the comprehensive humane education movement.
Yasmine Sherif: Global Educator and Champion for Youth
By: Shannon Luders-Manuel
Yasmine Sherif, who leads Education Cannot Wait, is an activist working for the rights of all children and the winner of MY HERO's 2020 Global Educator Award.
Frances Moore Lappé (Lappe)
By: Rosemary Pritzker
Hero Frances Moore Lappe is a passionate and pioneering thinker and activist who fights world hunger.
Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, Hero and ‘Mother of Afghan Education’
By: Abigail Richardson
Andy Crisp's Film, 'Mental Health Awareness:' Film Fest Finalist
By: Deborah Neff, MY HERO Staff writer
Melinda French Gates
By: Naomi Gledhill
Read this story about American philanthropist and champion for women and girls, Melinda French Gates.
Sarah Brown, Global Health and Education Hero
By: Abigail Richardson
Pashtana Durrani
By: Deborah Neff
Pashtana Durrani, who received the Malala Fund Education Champion award for her work on behalf of education for Afghan girls, is determined to continue providing educational opportunities for women and girls, even if she has to resist the Taliban and go underground.
Salman (Sal) Khan
By: Suha Memon
Salman Khan created Khan Academy, a free online educational platform.
Dina Fesler opens a unique school in Afghanistan
By: David Conrads <br> Contributor of The Christian Science Monitor<br> <h5>Perm...
Dina Fesler went to Afghanistan to learn how to teach U.S. students about the country. Now she's opened a school there.
Techo and Techo para Aprender
By: Annie Merkley
Techo and Techo para Aprender are nonprofits in Chile that help empower impoverished communities through leadership, housing and education.
Dr. James Doty
By: Wendy Jewell
James Doty, M.D., FACS, FICS is a professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University and founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. His book, “Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart” is taking the world - and many classrooms in it - by storm. Compassion is key.
Erin Gruwell
By: Annie Merkley
Erin Gruwell
continues to inspire educators and students around the world with her compassion and wisdom.
In wartime Yemen, volunteer teachers are bridging a learning gap
By: Abdulghani Aqlan
March 24, 2025 - Amongst one of the worst humanitarian crises, volunteers are trying to ensure that the next generation doesn’t lose faith in Yemen’s future. [CSM Story]
Listen & Read Along
The following stories have links so you can hear the audio as you read. Great for ESL students!
Felix Elizalde
By: Alexandra from Newark
Alexandra writes about her grandfather, Felix Elizalde, who worked alongside Cesar Chavez by advocating for the importance of education.
For Younger Students by Younger Students
Paul Cummins
By: Kristin Herbert for MY HERO
Paul Cummins
has devoted his career to finding ways to provide all children equitable access to a quality education.
2022 TEACHER HERO - JEFFREY RUDKIN
By: 7th grade Students from Batchelor Middle School
A wonderful media arts educator who inspires his students with a focus on hero based storytelling!
Bill Belsey
By: Jesse from Calgary
Bill Belsey
teaches his students and others how to stand up to bullying.
MY HERO International Festival Educator Award Winners
MacGillivray Freeman Films Wins the 2024 MY HERO Global Educator Award
By: Abigail Richardson
MY HERO is delighted to present the 2024 Global Educator Award to MacGillivray-Freeman Films for their recent film 'Superhuman Body: World of Medical Marvels'
Jeffrey Rudkin Receives 2022 MY HERO Teacher Award
By: Deborah Neff, Staff writer
Dr. Mandeep Rai – MY HERO's 2022 Global Educator
By: Abigail Richardson
Dr. Rai, author of The Values Compass wins MY HERO 2022 Global Educator Award.
Samar Minallah Khan
By: Abigail Richardson
Samar is a filmmaker, anthropologist and activist. In the media, she has been referred to as ‘The Savior of Souls,’ one of the ‘Women who rock the world,’ ‘The Crusader with the Camera’ and the ‘Women that changed Pakistan.’
My Hero Awards Holly Carter 2021 Global Media Educator
By: Abigail Richardson
Holly Carter, founder and Executive Director of BYkids, has been awarded the Global Media Educator Award in 2021 by The MY HERO Project
Pakistani Teacher Humaira Asif Awarded MY HERO Outstanding Educator Award
By: Deborah Neff, MY HERO Staff writer
Pakistani Teacher Humaira Asif Awarded MY HERO Outstanding Educator Award for her work with students and MY HERO.
Find more Award-Winning Educators in this organizer below:
Global Educator Award Winners
By: Wendy Milette
Honoring leaders in Global Education
Art
Enjoy the following artwork about global educators.
Betty Morgan
By: Robert Shetterly
Wendell Berry
By: Robert Shetterly
John Hunter
By: Robert Shetterly
MY HERO IS CHEIKH SECK
By: Antonio Mendoza
Related Pages
Learning Circle
By: Laura Nietzer
A Place for Educators to Learn About the MY HERO Learning Circle Partnership with iEARN
This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education is part of our efforts to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences.
Learn about a New Hero Every Day of the Year: Visit the MY HERO Calendar
Students: Share Your Hero Essays, Films and Art through our Create Program
Outstanding essays submitted to MY HERO will be considered for a certificate/t-shirt prize or be featured on the Story Homepage.
International Education Week - US Department of State
