SHORTSVILLE — “Oh my god. What
have you done?” screamed Elizabeth Maslyn, yelling outside the wreckage of a
two-car accident in which a fellow Red Jacket High School student was “killed.”
Frantically screaming, walking
around, bending over and putting her head in her hands, she realistically
pleaded with emergency workers to save two other teens trapped in one of the
cars during a mock demonstration of a fatal accident caused by underage
drinking and driving.
The scene, played out in the
parking lot of Red Jacket High School, included Maslyn and other student actors
and real-life first responders, Ontario County sheriff’s deputies and state
Supreme Court Justice Craig J. Doran, administrative judge of Seventh Judicial
District.
“Impaired driving is the
number-one cause of death for teens and young adults,” Deputy John Peck told
about 100 students gathered in the school auditorium where the program started
with a video of young people drinking and laughing at a party, opting not to
call parents to pick them up, but to drive home on their own.
The video ended with a screech
and faded to black, after which the students went outside where real fire
engines, ambulances and first-responders tended to “accident victims” — one
covered, indicating he had died.
The real Jaws of Life extraction
tool was used to remove the roof of the smashed car containing the “body.”
Nearby, Olivia Straub, a junior portraying an injured victim, was placed on a
stretcher to be taken to a waiting helicopter while Deputy Joe DiMariano
administered sobriety tests to Cal Case, a senior who portrayed the drunk
driver under the fictional name Giovanni Rodriguez.
The body, played by senior Nate
Lecceardone, was picked up by Kevin Henderson, a real county coroner who was to
take it in a white hearse provided by Fuller Funeral Home.
The students, some visibly
moved, returned to the auditorium where they first watched a video of the
handcuffed Rodriguez being processed and placed in a cell to await arraignment.
A sign on the wall reads, “Drive Drunk and Visit a Few More Bars.”
Peck, the school resource
officer, reported Rodriguez had a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the
legal limit.
Live actors then took the stage,
sitting on a couch wondering why their son Nate had not yet come home when
deputies knocked on the door to give them the tragic news.
The lights shifted to Doran and
a juror in a courtroom where Rodriguez was found guilty of vehicular
manslaughter and sentenced to the maximum penalty of five to 15 years in
prison.
“One of the most difficult
responsibilities for this court is having to impose sentence on a young person
who, like you , has your whole life ahead of you,” Doran scolded Rodriguez,
noting he also thinks about the families of the deceased and how their lives
are forever torn apart.
Lecceardone then appeared in a
cloud of smoke, dressed in black, telling students how he missed out on
graduation, going to college and meeting his future wife.
“But most of all, I never had
the chance to say goodbye,” he said. “I hope everyone can learn from this.”
Peck told the students such
programs are presented with their safety in mind, as many are preparing to head
off to college where they will likely face situations involving drinking or
drug use.
“I hope this sends a message and
you are very careful and don’t get yourselves in trouble,” Peck said. “I don’t
want to come to your house and knock on your door and tell your parents you’ve
been killed.”
Ontario County STOP-DWI
Coordinator Sue Cirencione said the program is presented every year across
Ontario County to get the message out.
“There’s nothing more impactful
than hearing and seeing what could happen,” she said. “It’s a good thing for
the students to understand their actions have an impact on this community, not
just themselves.”
Red Jacket District
Superintendent Charlene Dehn commended school and community participants for
working together to send a powerful message to students about the dangers of
driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“Hopefully this experience will
help our students make good decisions and understand the impact one poor
decision can have on them, their family and friends for the rest of their
lives,” she said.
Dehn also singled out Donna
Schaertl, a volunteer, whom she said was instrumental in putting the program
together and writing the scripts.
“I just want to prevent a family
from going through what our family went through,” said Schaertl who lost a
4-year-old son in a drowning accident 19 years ago. The mother of six has three
children attending school in the district.
“I just know what a tragedy
feels like to a family, and I just want to prevent a family from going through
what our family went through,” added Schaertl, who has turned her own tragedy
into a mission to give back to the community.
By the numbers
54% Increase in the
percentage of teens in high school who drink and drive
1 ... in 10 teens in
high school drinks and drives
17 Number of times
more likely young drivers (ages 16-20) are to die in a crash when they have a
blood-alcohol content of .08 percent, the legal limit in New York and most
states.
Source: mpnnow.com
