10 days. and every 15 minutes.

10 days left of being a senior 

its bittersweet.  in 10 days i wont have to worry about being in dress code anymore. i wont have to carry around a hall pass where ever i go. i wont have to worry about state testing or district assessments. i wont have to worry about all the immature stupid freshmen drama or all the pointless fighting and getting our lunch cut short. but i will have to worry about college and staying on top of my classes. I'll have to actually try in my classes because lets face it, senior year was a joke. the only classes i really had to try in was econ for 1st semester and civics for 2nd semester. I will miss graphic design class though, not for all the designing that was going on but because Jackie was in that class. During middle school while my grandma was going though her cancer treatments i would always go over to Jackie's house and we got close, but over the years we grew apart but i always knew that we would still be close and have each others back when it came down to it. which leads me to every 15 minutes. 

Every 15 Minutes

- ok i wasnt about to explain everything so i cut and pasted =) 

Life's lessons are best learned through experience. Unfortunately, when the target audience is teens and the topic is drinking and driving, experience is not the teacher of choice. The Every 15 Minutes Program offers real-life experience without the real-life risks. This emotionally charged program, entitled Every 15 Minutes, is an event designed to dramatically instill teenagers with the potentially dangerous consequences of drinking alcohol. This powerful program will challenge students to think about drinking, personal safety, and the responsibility of making mature decisions when lives are involved

During the first day events the "Grim Reaper" calls students who have been selected from a cross-section of the entire student body out of class. One student is removed from class every 15 minutes. A police officer will immediately enter the classroom to read an obituary which has been written by the "dead" student's parent(s) - explaining the circumstances of their classmate's demise and the contributions the student has made to the school and the community. A few minutes later, the student will return to class as the "living dead," complete with white face make-up, a coroner's tag, and a black Every 15 Minutes T-shirt. From that point on "victims" will not speak or interact with other students for the remainder of the school day. Simultaneously, uniformed officers will make mock death notifications to the parents of these children at their home, place of employment or business.  After lunch, a simulated traffic collision will be viewable on the school grounds. Rescue workers will treat injured student participants. These students will experience first hand, the sensations of being involved in a tragic, alcohol-related collision. The coroner will handle fatalities on the scene, while the injured students will be extricated by the jaws-of-life manned by Fire-Fighters and Paramedics. Police Officers will investigate, arrest, and book the student "drunk driver". Student participants will continue their experience by an actual trip to the morgue, the hospital emergency room, and to the police department jail for the purpose of being booked for "drunk driving".  At the end of the day, those students who participated in the staged accident as well as those who were made-up as the "living dead" will be transported to a local hotel for an overnight student retreat. The retreat will simulate the separation from friends and family. A support staff of counselors and police officers will facilitate the retreat.  During the most powerful program of the retreat, the students will be taken through an audio - visualization of their own death. Then each student will write a letter to his or her parents starting out with . . . "Dear Mom and Dad, every fifteen minutes someone in the United States dies from an alcohol related traffic collision, and today I died. I never had the chance to tell you......." Parents will also be asked to write similar letters to their children. These letters will be shared the following day when students and parents will be reunited at a school assembly.  The students will engage in "Challenge Day" exercises and some fun and games. Impaired simulator goggles will be used to allow students to experience firsthand the potentially fatal consequences of alcohol and drug impairment. The goggles will allow students the opportunity to understand the dangers of impaired driving without taking a drop of alcohol or using drugs of any type. Research shows that those who learn from hands-on experience retain two to four times more than those who learn from just listening, or from listening and seeing.  On the following morning, a mock funeral service will be held at the High School. The assembly will began with a video of normal school day activities including scenes from the first day of the "Grim Reaper" and the staged accident. The assembly will be hosted by an Officer (Project Coordinator), who will guide the audience through the devastating effects of losing a loved one due to a bad choice. Speakers will include students who will read letters to their parents, police officers, and hospital personnel who shared their emotional trauma of dealing with kids killed in accidents. Parents will share their personal reflections of their involvement in this program. We will also have a powerful speaker who actually lost a child to a drunk driver.  The focus of the assembly stresses that the decision to consume alcohol can affect many more people than just the one who drinks. This very emotional and heart-wrenching event will illustrate to students, the potentially dangerous consequences of their use of alcohol, regardless of how casual they believe their use may be.  This event includes the participation of our Police and Fire Departments, High School Staff, Local Hospital, Video Production Crew, Community Officials, District Attorney's Office and a wide cross-section of the community at-large. It is our goal to utilize the strength, talent and resources of business and industry to prevent drunk driving." During the whole crash crash part, i was like ok this isnt that bad, i can deal with it. Yes it was sad but i knew that it was just a staged accident. so it really didnt get to me. but the 2nd day, when we had the assembly, i think that the assembly hit home for all the seniors.they had video taped the whole accident scene infront of the school but they also video taped the hospital scene and the shriefs department. Jackie was the one that died and seeing her mom and sister in the waiting room and watching the doctor tell them that she didnt make it, even though i knew it wasnt real, it was like omg. after the video they had 2 people from MADD (mothers agaist drunk driving) tell their story and it was sad, but it means more when you know the person you know? after that, i think like 6 seniors read the letters that their parents wrote them or they wrote to their parents or life stories. Taylor read the letter that her little sister wrote her and it was a tear jerker. and then mersha (sp?) and cassie read theirs and they were sad but im not really close to them so i didnt really know their story, it was still sad but not as sad as Jackies. I lost it when she read the letter her mom wrote her. you could hear everyone in the audience fight back their tears. For me, this is the one that hit me the most. How real this really is. Every 15 minutes, someone dies. And its not like your going to know exactly like oh crap im going to die. its like it happens to the one's that you least expect it.  the whole every 15 minutes program, even though it cost a lot, is a great program! i think every high school should do it. it really makes the whole drinking and driving thing real. it put alot of things into prospective for me. not that i drink and drive but i will never ever drink and drive.  i wont drink, and well i will drive but you get the picture.  and (not that anyone from the school is reading this) i want to thank all you guys for doing it. i know it wasnt easy and it was a real emotional 2 days for you guys, but it really helped us all understand that drinking and driving is a horrible thing.