Berkshire Country Day School Student Recognition

National Video Challenge to Share Testimonies of Holocaust Survivors

STOCKBRIDGE/LENOX, MA (06/10/2016)(readMedia)-- For the third year, Berkshire Country Day School's Eighth Grade History teacher Sarah Pitcher-Hoffman engaged her 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. The IWitness Video Challenge is an opportunity for secondary students to produce student-driven videos that capture these life histories and preserve them to share with future generations.

For the third year in a row, one of BCD's Eighth Grade students has received special recognition in this national challenge. Lanna Knoll, Great Barrington, MA produced a video, Hope and Happiness, that was chosen as a winner in the regional round. Lanna volunteered at Gould Farm, a local therapeutic community for those struggling with mental health and brought ideas about finding hope and happiness back to friends and family. You can view Lanna's video by visiting iwitness.usc.edu/SFI/iwitnesschallenge and scrolling down Hope and Happiness.

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. Lanna will now advance to the final round of judging, and one will be named the winner of the 2016 IWitness Video Challenge.

Last year, BCD's Sam Ferrone, Spencertown, NY, was a regional winner, and the year before Ayva Schiff of Dalton, MA, and Ruby Merritt, Lenox, MA, were regional winners and received second place in the finals.

About Berkshire Country Day School

Berkshire Country Day School, established in 1946 and located at 55 Interlaken Road, Route 183 in Stockbridge, MA, is an independent school for students in Preschool through Grade 9. Berkshire Country Day School exists to inspire the individual promise of every student, that each may become an exemplary citizen of the world. For more information about the school, visit berkshirecountryday.org.