Monday, September 10, 2007

Adventures in Media Music Videos



Trailnet, KDHX, and The Urban Studio came together to create a teen summer program that explored media, nutrition, food access, and how they all relate. The Adventures in Media program ran for two weeks, June 18 - 29. The program was team taught by a film instructor, an actress, and a photographer. The camp was a very hands-on 2 weeks in which teen participants learned all about media and how it affects their decisions. They visited the KDHX TV and radio stations to see media behind the scenes. They visited the New Roots Urban Farm to learn how food is grown and what constitutes healthy eating. Ultimately, the teens wrote, produced, and acted in their own YouTube videos.

To highlight disparities in access to healthy foods, the teens learned how to read nutrition labels and then went on two scavenger hunts: a local convenience store and a supermarket in an affluent part of town. They found very few healthy foods in the convenience store, compared to an entire section brimming with fruits, vegetables, and health food at the store in Clayton.

The teens watched and discussed "Super Size Me". They were active every day and ate healthy, fresh lunches every day, sometimes to their chagrin.

Since this was a media camp, we asked the teens to maintain The Urban Studio blog throughout the program. Skim through our archives for great photos and daily logs.

Special thanks to The United Way of Greater St. Louis, Trailnet, and KDHX for their hard work and support of this program!

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