Three student-produced videos, including an animated comic about cell phone use, were shown to spur discussion during the Healthy Conversations event in April 2025.  

The videos grew out of student reporting related to the 2024–25 Healthy NewsWorks reporting theme, “Making Good Decisions.”   

Ruby Marcelino, an eighth-grade reporter at St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral School for the Catholic Partnership Schools Healthy Courier, worked with classmate Daniel Contreras to tell the true story in comic form of Daniel’s effort to reduce his personal cell phone use. 

After completing the comic, “The Cell Phone Tragedy,” the students worked with Rodney Whittenberg, Healthy NewsWorks’ video director and editor, to learn voiceover skills. Two other St. Joseph’s reporters joined with them to produce the comic as a short, animated video. 

The two other videos shown during Healthy Conversations included interviews with community leaders and health experts about factors that can help people make good choices or avoid problematic decisions. 

Enjoy watching! 

The Cell Phone Tragedy (1:43) 

Making a good decision (3:20) 

Learning from a decision (3:28)