Significance: This study sought to determine two objectives: 1) to explore the "meaning" young peoples assigned to their participation in developing their own health education fotonovelas, and 2) to examine the adolescent consumers' "perceptions"of youth-produced fotonovelas. School health education is intended as a vehicle for health promotion/disease prevention and designed to encourage young people to take personal measures and responsibility toward good health. The Fotonovela Projects (FNP) actively involved seventh and eighth grade students in developing health promotion communication strategies with adolescents designated as the target audience. Fotonovelas or photo novels resemble comic books but contain health promotion/disease prevention messages about violence, alcohol use, and teen pregnancy (hereafter called risky health behaviors). The fotonovela participants selected the health themes relevant to young people. The participants developed the storylines based on their research and direct or indirect (vicarious) experiences with risky health behaviors. Actual photographs of their peers and community were used to illustrate real faces, youth and ethnic culture, as well as portray youths' reality and voice. Design: The researcher conducted: 1) face-to-face interviews with a convenient sample of former fotonovela participants, 2) focus group discussions among a convenient sample of adolescent consumers, and 3) reviewed and analyzed the Fotonovela Project Progress Reports (archival data). The researcher transcribed and analyzed data using NUDIST program software. The data produced patterns, categories, and themes. Results: The meaning associated with the participants' involvement in the Fotonovela Project included several constructs from the National School Health Education Standards. The Fotonovela Project provided opportunities for youth to learn how to work together, act as health advocates, gain new skills, problem-solve, make decisions, communicate with each other, express their culture (age and/or ethnicity), and feel a sense of pride and accomplishment about a product and task they conpleted. Despite the fact that group or collective vs individual learning may be more culturally conducive to some ethnic groups than others, this method of learning may be of best use for cultures which normally operate as a collective. Adolescent consumers of the fotonovelas perceived the fotonovela message to contain messages about drinking alcohol and the possible consequence associated with alcohol consumption, i.e., teen pregnancy. The significance of the fotonovelas to the adolescent consumers was: the intended health message, the reality associated with the message, and the health issues encountered and expressed by young people.