The program brings the stories of the unsung heroes into classrooms through the visual arts. (photo courtesy of LMC)

The Lowell Milken Family Foundation has announced the 2024-25 cohort of ARTEFFECT Ambassadors, a visual arts education online fellowship for educators working directly with 6th-12th grade students.

The 34 fellows in the second annual cohort are from 21 states and include 26 visual arts teachers. Los Angeles educators Anna August, an art teacher at Sinai Akiba Academy, and Pnina Benperlas, a Hebrew teacher at Milken Community School, have been selected for the program.

The cohort represents diverse educational, professional and geographic backgrounds, including specializations in visual arts, social studies, STEAM and administration. The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes works with students and educators to discover and develop the stories of unsung heroes from history.

The ambassadors will participate in a series of online professional development sessions. The virtual sessions – four of which are also open to all educators and are free to join – explore the impact of unsung heroes – individuals not commonly known who took extraordinary actions in service to others and society. Themes and subject areas include STEAM, character education, social impact and visual storytelling.

“The ambassadors fellowship continues to foster visual arts education by directly engaging educators with remarkable stories of unsung heroes,” said Dr. Toni Guglielmo, director of AREFFECT. “Through the teaching and learning in this program, students are equipped with new insights that allow them to make a positive impact on their communities by championing unsung heroes.”

In the online sessions, participants will explore approaches for considering and creatively interpreting the stories of unsung heroes as role models through the visual arts. They will use lesson plans focused on unsung heroes that provide step-by-step modeling to create artworks. Members will engage with other educators nationwide to expand their instructional practices.

“Unsung heroes from prior generations demonstrate the power of one person to profoundly better the lives of others and positively impact the course of history,” Lowell Milken Center and ARTEFFECT Founder Lowell Milken said. “This is of critical importance as generations young and old, local and global, need positive role models from the past to serve as beacons to light the path to a secure future.”

For information, visit lowellmilkencenter.org/competitions/arteffect/ambassadors.