A Life without Tobacco Video

 

Here's more info on the video from Preston himself.  

 

As a sophmore, I became part of the Dassel-Cokato High School TATU (Teens Against Tobacco Use) program, where I began to realize the importance of tobacco  education. In the program, I was involved with yearly events that students in TATU would put on to educate both  high school and middle school students in our district. As a junior, in addition to those activities, I also spearheaded a project with another student to convince the City of Dassel, MN to become tobacco-free in their parks and recreation areas. Along with Lisa Hicks-Ewald and Joel Torkelson, we researched the topic, and eventually presented our concern and plan to the City Council. Because of our efforts, the city chose to become smoke-free in the detailed areas.

After this, I was met with my senior year. I had enjoyed our previous TATU activities, but wanted do something more. I brought the idea of making a documentary to my independent study adviser, Paul Beckermann, and eventually drafted a plan of production. The goal was to create an informative documentary for use in high school health classrooms. Specifically, I wanted to create something that didn't rely so much on statistics (like many other documentaries about the subject do), but rather create "real life" meaning behind the facts. This, I hoped would make a bigger impact on the students who viewed it. In the 6 months that I worked on the project, I researched the topic, interviewed individuals pertinent to the topic, and edited the film into a cohesive final project.