New Partnership Kicks Off American Education Week (November 16-20) with Twitter and Web Contests -- Simply Acknowledging Great Teachers With A Personal Webcam Video Can Help Fund Teacher and Public School Projects Nationwide

NEW YORK, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- My Teacher, My Hero, a social video-driven site dedicated to honoring teachers, today announced a partnership with DonorsChoose.org, an online charity that makes it easy for "citizen philanthropists" to help public schools in need. Beginning today - to honor the kickoff of the National Education Association's American Education Week - anyone who posts a video thanking their favorite teacher on MyTeacherMyHero.com during the month of November will receive a $25 "Giving Card" from DonorsChoose.org. The card can then be used towards a donation on the online charity site, which lists requests by schools and individual classrooms across the country for funding special projects and supplies. Just 18 uploaded videos will fully fund the average project budget of $450.

In addition, DonorsChoose.org and MyTeacherMyHero.com will kick off a contest on Twitter to raise additional funds for schools in need. Simply tweet about your favorite teacher using the post #MyTeacherMyHero Teacher Name, Subject, School, City, State. The teacher as well as the school that tallies the most mentions on #MyTeacherMyHero will each be awarded a special donation of $1,000 toward the supplies or project of their choice.

Launched last month, MyTeacherMyHero.com features videos by celebrities, athletes, public officials, and business leaders who have personally thanked their teachers online - ranging from Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana and Habitat for Humanity CEO Jonathan T.M. Reckford, to media personalities Howard Stern of Sirius XM Radio and Kathie Lee Gifford of NBC's TODAY Show. Other notable contributors to date include: Buzz Aldrin (Astronaut), Russell Simmons (Hip Hop Impresario), Craig Newmark (Founder, Craigslist), Sue Naegle (President, HBO Entertainment), Bar Rafaeli (Supermodel), Barry Meyer (CEO, Warner Bros.), Dave Winfield (MLB Hall of Famer), Seth Godin (Author/Blogger), Alan Mullaly (CEO, Ford Motor), Dan Bane (CEO, Trader Joe's), Esther Dyson (Entrepreneur/Investor), Hoda Kotb (Host, TODAY Show), Sherri Shepherd (Host, The View), Robert Rubin (former Secretary of the Treasury), Antonio Villaraigosa (the Mayor of Los Angeles), and many more.

"Partnering with My Teacher, My Hero is a natural fit, since they share in the ultimate mission of improving the educational experience for students nationwide," said Charles Best, Founder of DonorsChoose.org. "Both of our organizations strive to make it a personal experience that's easy to get involved with - whether it is contributing a small donation to a project you believe in, or simply thanking a teacher who has impacted your life or career path in some way."

About DonorsChoose.org

DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Public school teachers from across America post classroom project requests, from pencils for a poetry writing class to violins for a school recital. Then, you can search requests and give any amount to the project that speaks to you. Once a project reaches its funding goal, we deliver the materials to the school. Whether it's books or beakers, for second graders or sophomores, in Honolulu or Hartford there are thousands of classroom needs represented. Donors receive classroom feedback including photographs, student and teacher thank-you notes and an expenditure report showing that their gift was spent as directed.

Since launching in 2000, DonorsChoose.org has empowered more than 200,000 teachers and citizen philanthropists to become change makers and channeled over $40 million to 2.6 million students in classrooms across the country. For more detail, view our real time impact-to-date report.

About My Teacher, My Hero

A social video-driven website, MyTeacherMyHero.com was created to recognize and thank teachers for their important role in our society, with the ultimate goal of inspiring more talented, intelligent people to join the teaching profession. Anyone from anywhere in the country can share their personal story of a teacher who has influenced his or her life by simply uploading a video, or filming right from their webcam to the site. Through education-based sponsors and partners, MyTeacherMyHero.com also allows visitors to instantly support teachers across the U.S. - and to find out more about becoming teachers themselves.

My Teacher, My Hero is sponsored in part by the MAT@USC, a Master of Arts in Teaching program delivered online from the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education. The MAT@USC combines online learning with carefully selected field-based experiences and provides ongoing support for new teachers, including job placement assistance and partial tuition reimbursement opportunities. For additional information on requirements and admissions, please visit http://mat.usc.edu or call (888) 628-1872.

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SOURCE My Teacher, My Hero

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