Announcing the IWitness Video Challenge Regional Finalists

Maya Montell in "Community of Poetry" from Readington Middle School, New Jersey

The IWitness Video Challenge invited students from all over North America and Canada to be inspired by testimonies in IWitness and to use their innovation and creativity to create positive value in their communities by doing something ordinary (or extraordinary) and then build a video telling the story about how they contributed to making their communities a better place.

The regional finalists of the IWitness Video Challenge were inspired by genocide testimony to serve food to the needy, inspire and motivate those who are struggling, honor the elderly and more. Now, they will advance to the final round of judging and one will be named the winner of the 2016 IWitness Video Challenge.

Below is a summary of the regional finalists:

• In Hope and Happiness, Lanna Knoll from Berkshire Country Day School in Massachusetts volunteered at a local therapeutic community for those struggling with mental health and brought ideas about finding hope and happiness back to friends and family. 
• In Share to Show you Care, Rivers Lenholt from Canterbury School of Florida in St. Petersburg Florida raised awareness about hunger and homelessness by preparing and serving sandwiches to homeless in his community.
• In Community of Poetry, Maya Montell, Allison Vandal, and Caroline Waters from Readington Middle School in New Jersey started the Poets Undercover Guild to write and share motivational poetry with classmates, many of whom struggled with acceptance.
• In Tell Your Story, Andrea Chang and Ian Shang from Magic Pen Kids in California collected and shared stories from the elderly to celebrate and honor their wisdom.
• In Nobody Forgotten, Amanda Gin and Chloe Voss from Rocky Heights Middle School in Colorado collected and packaged toys and treats to donate to a local foster care facility.
• In Saving the Community, Keven Kim from S. Canton Scholars Academy in Michigan worked to raise awareness about ways to combat hunger in communities and conducted a food drive to help their own community. 

Helping to make this year’s Challenge the most successful yet are two organizational partners – Ford Motor Co., which is sponsoring the event as part of its commitment to innovative educational outreach; and Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, which will administer the Challenge and help maximize reach and impact through its deep partnerships with school systems, administrators and educators worldwide and unparalleled experience in implementing education-based programs that improve student engagement and achievement.

This year’s National Wining Entry will receive a US$5,000 scholarship. Second place will receive a $1,000 scholarship; third place, a $500 scholarship.

The educator associated with the National Winning Entry will receive a $1,000 grant awarded in the form of a check, to be used to implement change in his/her school.

The school or organization that hosted the IWitness group/class associated with the National Winning Entry will receive a $2,500 grant awarded in the form of a check, to be used to implement change in their community.

For more information about the IWitness Video Challenge, visit: http://iwitness.usc.edu/SFI/IWitnessChallenge/