The Grim Reaper will visit a St. Charles High School and a Westlake High School classroom every 15 minutes on Thursday, April 9, leaving behind a “living dead” student who silently reminds classmates of the consequences of drinking or texting while driving.
Students on the Student Government Safe Driving Task Force at St. Charles and Westlake high schools are participating in the National Every 15 Minutes program on April 9-10, which includes a mock automobile accident, the removal by the Grim Reaper of preselected students from classrooms and a post-school trial of the “drunk” drivers who caused the accidents.
Sponsored and coordinated by the Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department (WVFD), Every 15 Minutes is a national two-day program that encourages students to think about personal safety when driving, especially when alcohol or texting are involved. This is the fourth consecutive year that Charles County Public Schools has participated in the program, which is geared towards high school juniors and seniors. The program is generally coordinated with the annual high school prom season.
According to Guy Yesse, program coordinator and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) deputy chief with the WVFD, Station 12, traffic collisions are the leading cause of death among teen-age youth. The goal of the program is to educate teenagers through realistic experiences that simulate the magnitude of tragedies caused by drunk driving and texting while driving.
“Living dead” students will be taken from classes at both schools on Thursday, made up to look like corpses, and returned to class as silent reminders that Every 15 Minutes someone is killed or seriously injured in an alcohol-related or distracted driving incident. Students must remain in character for the remainder of the school day and they may not speak or interact with other students. A school resource officer will enter the student’s classroom and read an obituary prepared by the student’s parents. Simultaneously, officers with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office will make mock death notifications to the parents of these children at their home, place of employment or business.
A simulated traffic accident will occur Thursday, April 9 in the Westlake High School parking lot at 9:15 a.m. and in the school parking lot at St. Charles High School at 1:15 p.m. Rescue workers will treat “injured” students who will experience the sensation of being involved in a tragic, alcohol-related driving collision. Members of the WVFD will handle fatalities on the scene while firefighters and paramedics remove the injured students with jaws-of-life tools. Student participants will continue their experience after school at the Charles County Courthouse for a mock trial of the “drunk drivers” who caused the morning accidents.
At the end of the day, students who participated in the staged accidents and the “living dead” will be taken to Camp Merrick in Nanjemoy for an overnight retreat. The retreat will simulate the separation from friends and family. A support staff of counselors, staff from St. Charles and Westlake high schools and members of the WVFD will facilitate the retreat.
Students will work on presentations to be given to their peers during assemblies on Friday. The assembly at Westlake is scheduled for 8:30 a.m.; the assembly at St. Charles is planned for 9:45 a.m. The focus of the presentations is to show how consuming alcohol or texting while driving can affect more people than just the one who drinks or texts. Charles County Sheriff Troy Berry will be the guest speaker at both assemblies.
The event includes the participation by the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, other county fire and rescue departments, staff at St. Charles and Westlake high schools, Charles County Public Schools, College of Southern Maryland, community officials, Charles County Courthouse officials and a wide cross section of the Charles County community at-large.