Michael Stoll speaking with Upper School students
Eighth Grade History teacher Sarah Pitcher-Hoffman collaborated with Eighth Grade Integrated Studies teacher Susan Benner this fall to engage their students in service work through the IWitness Video Challenge. IWitness is an educational website developed by USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education that provides access to nearly 1,300 full-life histories, testimonies of survivors and witnesses to the Holocaust and other genocides for guided exploration. IWitness brings the human stories of the Institute’s Visual History Archive to secondary school teachers and their students via engaging multimedia-learning activities. The activities are designed to be participatory, academic and student-driven.
Ms. Pitcher-Hoffman wrote, “One of the most memorable and powerful moments of last year’s Seventh Grade class trip to Washington, DC was our visit to the Holocaust Museum. Over the years, the faculty has noted that this significant experience is one that our students continue to process and discuss all the way through the 9th grade year, across subject matters, as well as across the different eras of history they study.
This fall the Upper School had the rare and relevant opportunity to meet and talk with Holocaust survivor Michael Stoll. Soon after, the 8th graders were guided to participate in a meaningful service learning project, one that allowed for further introspection, proactive work in the community, and a way to gain a deeper understanding of the Holocaust and its far-reaching effects on world history. This project, the IWitness Video Challenge, was inspired by the 20th anniversary of the movie Schindler’s List.
Over the course of the project, 8th graders watched video testimony from Holocaust survivors and were inspired, as Oskar Schindler was, to make a difference in their communities. After watching the video clips, they worked in groups, or alone to make this difference through service. Then they created a video essay that included both the clips that had inspired them as well as the footage from their project.”
The videos were screened and judged by Mrs. Benner, Ms. Pitcher, and every member of the class. Collectively, they chose one video, which was sent to the IWitness challenge. The chosen video, Hugs and Gloves, was produced by Ruby M. and Ayva S.
You can access this video and the other winners from around the nation via the following link.
Ruby and Ayva GREAT video and most importantly great project. You stepped out of your comfort zone and reached out to members of our community who struggle silently. Thanks for giving them a chance to share their experiences and for giving us a chance to learn from them.
Eleanore