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Michael Hernandez is an award-winning journalism, cinema and photography teacher who founded the Media Arts program at Mira Costa in 1999.  He received his BA in Communication from Santa Clara University and his MFA in Film Production from Loyola Marymount University.  He is an Apple Distinguished Educator, Google for Education Certified Innovator and PBS Digital Innovator.

 

Mr. Hernandez believes in empowering his students to become digital storytellers who create work that will affect positive change in society. To that end, he advises the nationally award-winning Mustang Morning News broadcast journalism program, and has taken students to countries like Cambodia, Cuba and Vietnam to make documentaries.

 

Mr. Hernandez speaks regularly at national and international conferences like SXSW EDU, ISTE, and the National High School Journalism Convention.  He has published articles for Edutopia and EdSurge, and published several books on journalism and digital storytelling.  He is the 2015-16 Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year, National High School Broadcast Journalism Teacher of the Year, and was recently named a National Geographic / Lindblad Expeditions Grosvenor Teacher Fellow.

 

Courses in the Media Arts Program include Cinematic Arts, Broadcast Journalism and Photography.  These dynamic classes prepare students for college and professional work in film, television, journalism and new media.  Students work with state of the art digital equipment in the 2600 square foot Media Arts Lab as they develop a personal voice and learn to express themselves cinematically.  Alumni of Media Arts have attended film schools like NYU, USC, LMU and Emerson, and studied journalism at Georgetown, Northwestern, Annenberg School of Communication at USC and the Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU.

 

For more info about the nationally award-wining Mira Costa Media Arts program and classes, visit our website at miracostamediaarts.weebly.com.

 

To see the Mustang Morning News and award-winning work produced by Broadcast Journalism students, go to www.mustangmorningnews.com

 

To find out more about Mr. Hernandez, visit his website, LinkedIn Profile.

Follow him on Twitter: @cinehead and on Instagram: @changing.the.narrative