Online Professional development sessions
Join or watch free online sessions that equip educators with tools, strategies, and resources to teach the inspiring stories of Unsung Heroes through the visual arts.
Online Professional Development Sessions
Bring the stories of the Unsung Heroes into your classroom and community through the visual arts!
All educators are invited to join these free online sessions to foster teaching and learning about the LMC Unsung Heroes through the visual arts. Led by experts and practitioners, these online sessions explore varied themes related to the LMC Unsung Heroes, delve into strategies to deepen instructional practice, support student participation in the annual competition, and offer opportunities to engage with other educators.
Sessions are free to attend and will be recorded. Registration is required for each session. All registered attendees will receive a recording of the session via email and session lesson plan. PD certificates available for download.
Browse the Unsung Heroes Directory.
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UPCOMING SESSIONS
Additional Visual Arts Lesson Plans
This session explores how LMC Unsung Heroes’ actions changed the course of history through a social impact framework. What does social impact mean? Where did the Unsung Hero make an impact ―on society, communities, or individuals? How did their actions encompass the sense of responsibility that is at the core of social impact? Participants will consider how processes of artmaking and design convey concepts about social impact that can support students in creative interpretations of the Unsung Heroes’ stories. Educators guide their students to exploring their ability to impact a community or audience through their ARTEFFECT project.
About the Instructor: E. Dominic Black, MA Ed., is a professional artist and art teacher with a B.A. in Art and a master’s degree in education. He is the VAPA Department Chair and the painting and drawing instructor at San Dimas High School, where he has taught intro, advanced and AP Studio art for over twenty-two years. Mr. Black was recently a member of the teacher advisory council for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and the La Brea Tar Pits at the Page Museum, where he created a book of original art curriculum for the museums. Dominic has also taught 2D design at the Career and Technical Education Center at the Pomona Fairplex, where he developed an advanced level painting program, Reed Fine Arts. Mr. Black also serves as an educational travel consultant with Worldstrides/Explorica, Inc. Dominic is also an art teacher and curriculum designer for the visual arts for The Berridge Programs. Mr. Black has led field trips with students through Europe and Asia every summer since 2011, and he is preparing for his next trip abroad with students to Greece this summer, 2025. In October 2022, Dominic and his wife were awarded the cruise of a lifetime, as part of the NCL Giving Joy to Teachers Program and the Kelly Clarkson Show. In 2024, Mr. Black was honored with the CAEA Ruth Jansen Distinguished Art Educator Award.
Making a submission to the annual ARTEFFECT competition is an accomplishment for students unto itself. Review this lesson plan to start the project in your classroom. This lesson plan guides students through a step-by-step process of choosing an [approved LMC Unsung Hero], creating a visual artwork, and writing the Impact Statement essay. The activities align with multiple parts of the National Art Standards, referenced in the lesson plan.
