Monte Vista High School, in conjunction with assistance from parent volunteers, local agencies including law enforcement, emergency responders, area hospitals, and clergy presented the Every 15 Minutes program to current students and staff at Monte Vista on April 7 and 8. Every 15 Minutes is a powerful two-day program encouraging teens to think about personal safety and the potentially tragic consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, and while using cell phones. The program stresses the importance of making mature decisions and recognizing that their actions affect others besides themselves.
This two day program included a simulated traffic accident which took place on the Monte Vista football stadium on April 7. Students at Monte Vista were the participants in the collision, as drivers and injured passengers. The accident simulation included on-site trauma triage, DUI investigation, and hospital treatment/death. Student participants also attended a student retreat the night of April 7 with activities designed to show the effects of driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs and/or while distracted.
A school wide assembly then took place on April 8 in the Monte Vista Large Gym. Robert Pack, from the Troy and Alana Pack Foundation, along with Austin Whitney, an anti-drunk driving and motivational speaker delivered their powerful messages to the entire Monte Vista school community.
Every 15 Minutes is made possible from PTSA funding, a federal grant, local business donations, and many hours of work from parent volunteers.
First Hand Account;
I feel very fortunate to have attended the Every 15 Minutes program at Monte Vista High School as a media representative and father of two teenage daughters. To say that it was moving, powerful, educational, emotional, memorable and amazing would be an understatement. This well structured two day presentation was an incredibly effective way to realistically make teen drivers aware of the dangers and repercussions of driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol and texting.
On a warm spring morning, over 2,000 students piled into the home bleachers of the Sam Zackheim Stadium at Monte Vista High School. On the track, a tarp covered what turned out to be a post car accident crash scene. The teen victims were just starting to awaken from the traumatic occurrence as the driver of one car frantically called 911. Over the next 50 minutes, a real time reenactment played out in front of the audience’s eyes. As response crews including policemen, firemen, sheriffs, paramedics, a Calstar medevac helicopter and ultimately the country coroner arrived on the scene, this powerful depiction of a realistic occurrence seemed to genuinely strike a nerve with the students in attendance.
Sherry Watkins, a trauma center nurse for John Muir Hospital, the leading trauma center for Contra Costa County, said, “this injury prevention outreach program is the ultimate Show & Tell.” The simulated fatal crash scene proved to be more impactful and emotional than I would have ever imagined. Throughout the presentation, freshman through senior students sat in silence, showing remarkable respect for the event being played out. More than a few girls could be seen dabbing tears away from their eyes. “The emergency response team did an incredible job showing us how they performed their jobs. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than a few students saw this as a future career path because of this experience,” said one parent.
There was no snide laughter, group conversations or immature behavior displayed at all by the student body. More than a few parent volunteers commented on the intense, full attention of the students watching the presentation.
The basic premise of the program is that one person dies every fifteen minutes in an automobile crash because of alcohol, drugs or distracted driving, such as texting while driving. The presentation focuses on the serious and potentially deadly impact that poor decisions can have on family and friends. As the victims were evacuated, the police administered a field side sobriety test to the inebriated driver responsible for the accident, ultimately placing him under arrest. The assembly ended with the deceased characters real life parents arriving to identify the body, followed by the coroner’s van removing the body as the announcer Jim Doliber read the eulogy of Shelby Cooke.
Later that same day, every 15 minutes a student was removed from a class representing a crash statistic (aka the Living Dead). Their mock obituaries were read aloud in class. Diane Weltz, the mother of Alex Weltz (one of the Living Dead), said, “even though I knew it was coming, it was unnerving getting a mock call from the sheriff’s department and a visit from a police department Chaplain notifying me that my daughter was the victim of a fatal accident.”
The second day assembly began with the Monte Vista Choir performing “Amazing Grace” to a packed gym, as the students who participated in the previous day’s activities filed in with a casket symbolizing the deceased victims of these tragic accidents. This was followed by a video recap of the prior day’s reenactment with a moving account of what transpired once one of the victims arrived at the hospital trauma center and died in the emergency room. Parents all around me wiped back tears when a doctor told a grieving mother and father that their son could not be saved. Even I had a hard time holding it together.
Austin Whitney, a 20 year old paraplegic, spoke to the crowd about an accident he was responsible for that left him confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. The students seemed to truly relate to this remorseful former star lacrosse player, member of the student council and popular big man on campus as he recounted his one-time care free lifestyle. The inexcusable choice that Austin made, to drive after a night of heavy drinking, nearly killed him and his two closest friends when he lost control of his car and it slammed into a tree at high speed.
Bob Pack, the father of Troy and Alana Pack, two elementary school children who were killed by an intoxicated driver ten years ago on Tassajara Road spoke of the immeasurable loss a parent feels when a child is lost. Bob, and his wife Carmen, have fought for legislation to promote and enforce public safety policies related to driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Perhaps the most moving portion of the presentation was when the two students who had“died” in the simulation, read an open letter to their parents. Both Laura Taylor and McKay Butler’s voices cracked with emotion as they talked about the love and support their parents had given and how much more they could have shared if not for the horrific tragedy. Parent volunteer, Jill Reynolds said, “Every MVHS parent should be grateful that their children got to experience this. Things like this do make a difference.”
Once again, a common theme among the adults in attendance was how impressed we were with the attention and respect the students gave to the proceedings. While it’s safe to say that teenagers will at times use poor judgment and make mistakes, the observations I made of the Monte Vista student body gives me hope that our children will learn from what they saw and the emotions they experienced thanks to Every 15 Minutes. While teens of today have more distractions, temptation and stress than ever before, they also seem to take responsibility and accountability more seriously than my generation ever did. This is evidenced by the latest national statistics indicating that Every 15 Minutes is now closer to Every 30 Minutes.
“The one thing I want them all to take away is how much they are loved and that life is precious and fragile. Choice not chance will determine their destiny if they get behind the wheel of a car while under the influence or distracted by texting. I hope they choose to live,” said Laurie Terzolo, who was the Program Chairperson and largely responsible for bringing Every 15 Minutes to Monte Vista High School.
Special thanks goes out to Cindy England and Lori Stanton for inviting me.
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