Asian Media Access Media Camp:
Through the Viewfinder
by Kang Vang
The cafeteria of the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Elementary was filled with the early morning chattering of teenagers. While their classmates were at home, taking a break from school during a rare four day weekend, these particular youths were sitting in a cafeteria munching on their doughnuts and muffins, sipping on some coffee and tea, as they eagerly awaited the start of their day.
The youth came from various schools around the Twin Cities, but they all shared the same goal for the weekend: To learn about Teen Pregancy Prevention, Drugs/Tobbacco use prevention, and then to produce their own visual Public Service Announcements (PSA) using digital photography and video cameras.
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Each morning, the students attended workshops covering the three topics to learn and discuss effective prevention methods. Then it's off to another class to learn basic photography, video, or photo/video editing skills.
The focus of the media camp is not only to teach the youth how to take a photograph or shoot a video; it is to also teach self expression, teamwork, planning strategies, and creative thinking.
  
The students worked cooperatively in teams that held "brainstorming sessions" where script ideas were discussed, developed and planned. Roles were delegated to everyone on the team but each member had the opportunity to experience the different roles that are needed to complete a video and photograph project.
Using the information the youth learned from the workshops, each team produced postcard PSA's and a short video PSA and reflecting their views on drugs, tobacco, and teen pregnancy.
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AMA YOUTH MEDIA CAMP 2007
 
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