Heroes: Biblical & Mythological class produced video projects Feb. 3-26 that depicted students’ interpretations of various myth archetypes across cultures.
“[HBM] used to be about classical heroes from typically Greek mythology as well as biblical mythology,” HBM teacher Nicholas Buckvar said. “Now the course has become a multicultural class; and beyond heroes, we also look at myths from multiple cultures regarding different aspects of life, like creation. We start to see [the things the civilizations values] within the heroes that they create myths and stories about.”
For the latest project, students dove into creation myths from around the world. Eric Fan (12) attempted to go beyond creation, examining archetypal patterns within different myths.
“I think this project really made me understand this concept called the ‘collective unconscious,’ and that’s something we’ve been learning in class,” Fan said. “This idea that these different civilizations separated by centuries in time and miles in geographical location, they all have very similar archetypes to all of their stories.”
Students chose an archetype such as flood myths, apocalypse myths or twin and sibling myths and found three examples from different cultures, then analyzed the common themes and patterns across them.
“I think it’s a super interesting class,” Fan said. “You always hear about myths throughout your time in school, but [this is] the first class where I’ve really dove deep into understanding its every intricacy, its background and its history.”
Students were allowed to customize their journey by choosing what medium they wanted their project to be in.
“This project has evolved from just being a stop-motion project to [one] where now there’s so many different possibilities they can do in terms of animating it, or using technology and using different different platforms to create it,” Buckvar said.
This shift in approach allowed students the opportunity to learn in new and diverse ways.
“I think [that when] collaborating with others you get different perspectives,” Fan said. “When you’re learning just by yourself, you only get your own perspective. But when you collaborate with even one individual or multiple people, you get their perspectives. So in a way, you get double the learning.”
![Luis Fontes De Castro (10) go-karts, skis, swims, wakeboards and more in places ranging from Portugal to Brazil. Fontes De Castro picked up many of these activities from the various countries he’s lived in, which helped him grow comfortable with the new environments he was faced with. When Fontes De Castro had to move again, these activities he’d learned helped him say goodbye. “I spent a few days with all my friends [before my move], and we did everything that we like doing together, like boating [and] soccer,” Fontes De Castro said. (Photos courtesy of Luis Fontes De Castro)](https://laduepublications.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/bf3a2ace-09db-480e-9edb-208f7b489643-1-1200x675.jpeg)
