In this session students and an instructor will share their experiences about a collaboration between students and researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, and high school students from the Pflugerville school district. They came together at John B. Connally High School to form a digital media studio. This was a collaborative project designed to explore the pervasiveness of sugar in our food environment. The objective of the project was to produce an iBook around the topic, "Is Our Appetite For Sugar Killing Us?" For three weeks students took on the roles of researchers, ethnographers, storytellers, designers, and digital media producers. Participants involved in this unique collaboration designed and produced an innovative campaign, using digital and social media platforms to tell powerful and personal stories about the consumption and effects of sugar sweetened products in their homes, neighborhoods, and among their peers. Team members devoted time to studying some of the key issues related to childhood obesity and then explored these issues through creative digital media storytelling.
