A school project featuring the story of a Polish woman who saved thousands of children during the Holocaust has earned the woman a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.

In 1999, a teacher at Uniontown High School suggested that four students research the facts behind the life of Irena Sendler, who is credited with saving 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto in 1942-43.

Now, teacher Norm Conard and others are working with the president of Poland and the prime minister of Israel on Sendler's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, local media reported Wednesday.

"Of course, a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize is a long way from receiving it," Conard said. "But I was just telling someone today, the project has gone leaps and bounds above what any of us could have imagined."

The nomination is the latest step for Conard and the students, whose project grew to include a short play called "Life in a Jar," that depicted Sendler's story. The students presented the play hundreds of times and traveled to Poland to meet Sendler. The project was the subject of a documentary and has garnered international recognition for Sendler and the students.

"It has touched the hearts of so many people," Conard said. "It's a testimony to not only Irena Sendler, and the courageous acts that she completed, but also to a bunch of dedicated young people passionate about making a difference in the world."

Conard said the group's next step was a foundation to help develop projects to teach respect across the United States. He said the foundation will also give $10,000 (€7,539) to a teacher in the U.S. and Poland who best exemplify the spirit of Sendler.

And in February, the Milken Family Foundation plans to make a DVD of "Life in a Jar" to distribute for educational purposes.