Liz Bommarito has been using IWitness in her English classes at Midwood High School in Brooklyn for the past two years. Her senior class is currently working on the IWitness Video Challenge, and this year each student has an extra incentive to win: The top five students, as voted by the class, will attend USC Shoah Foundation’s annual Ambassadors for Humanity Gala on Thursday.

This year, the Ambassadors for Humanity honoree is George Clooney. The gala is at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and will be hosted by Jon Stewart with special guest Sandra Bullock and a musical performance by Norah Jones.

The IWitness Video Challenge invites students to be inspired by the testimonies of survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides contained in the interactive, educational website IWitness. The testimonies are part of USC Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive, which contains 52,000 testimonies from 57 countries in 33 languages. Students are asked to create positive value in their communities by doing something ordinary (or extraordinary), and then challenged to build a video telling the story about how they contributed to making their communities a better place.

At the cocktail hour before the gala ceremony begins, the five students will show attendees their winning videos on tablets and talk about their experiences completing the IWitness Video Challenge.

Why does the IWitness Video Challenge appeal to you as a teacher?

As a teacher I find it appealing because the video testimony puts a face to the story.  I have taught the Holocaust before but it did not seem real to the students.  When they saw the video testimony they felt sympathetic towards the people on the screen.  It made it real for them.

What's been the response from your students?

They love using the software.  They are excited to see the videos and listen to the stories. They are working hard to be in the top 5 and are very excited.

What does it mean to you to be able to represent IWitness at the Gala?

Representing IWitness at the Gala is an honor.  As a teacher I look for tools and resources that will engage my students and make literature and history come alive to them.  It is truly amazing to see the students so excited about IWitness and listen to them discuss the testimonies when they don't realize I can hear them. It makes a lasting impression on them and they remember it for a long time. I will most definitely continue to use it because it makes history real for them.  After viewing some of the testimonies my students become curious to hear more testimonies and as a result they learn more! What could be better than that?