Two vehicles formed into one mass of metal sit in the center of a crowd of students. Students involved in the mock wreck either pose lifelessly about the car, stare at the scene with a dazed look in their eyes or are unable to walk without stumbling. Students look at their peers’ faces drizzled in fake blood and grasp the reality of the consequences of driving while intoxicated or distracted.

Students, faculty and community members participated in the “Every 15 Minutes” program April 7-8. The program educates students on the dangers of distracted driving or driving under the influence of alcohol and other substances. The mock accident took place Thursday morning in front of the high school with the assistance of the Canyon Police and Fire Departments, Lifestar Helicopter, Texas Department of Transportation and Brooks Funeral Home, who were on site to remove victims from the crash, provide emergency services and transport victims.

Among those participating in the mock wreck were senior Hanna Green, who portrayed the drunken driver, and junior Wesley Crenshaw, who portrayed a student killed in the crash. Green said one of the most difficult things she faced while participating in the program was the people she would be hurting if the scenario was real.

“You can imagine that was really hard,” Green said. “I know Wes’s family very well, and I have worked with him before. I remember going into this that was one of the hardest things knowing that Wesley was going to be one of the ones that I was going to be ‘killing.'”

Crenshaw said the “Every 15 Minutes” program not only teaches students how it affects the people in the crashes, but also their families and friends around them.

“I thought the program was a great idea, and it really shows the dangers,” Crenshaw said. “I think the people in the crowd, my friends and my mom were definitely impacted and saddened by the situation.”

After watching the crash scene unfold, students returned to class where every 15 minutes, an announcement notified the student body of the “death” of a student in an alcohol-related or distracted driving incident. Each student involved was taken from class by police officers, had his or her face painted with makeup and returned to class in an “Every 15 Minutes” shirt. The selected students, including junior Dakota Puga, were not allowed to speak or show any emotion, for they represented the “living dead.”

“I didn’t think this would be as realistic as it was,” Puga said.”Wesley and Payton are two of my best friends, and they were in the crash, so that is when it really started hitting me. I was the second person to be called out of class to die. In the next class, everyone was just staring at me. I started thinking about if I wasn’t there, what they would be doing.”

Students who participated in the program attended an overnight retreat in Ceta Canyon where all means of communication with their families and friends were stripped from them.

“That night we went to Ceta Canyon, we began to talk about how this actually affects people and how we always think it’s never going to be you,” Puga said. “Someone could easily do what happened that day to someone’s family. This has definitely impacted me and my decisions.”

The students returned from the retreat to attend an assembly Friday morning. Sophomores, juniors, seniors, faculty and community members involved in the program attended the assembly where they watched a video of the prior day’s events, listened to students and parents reflect on the experience and later heard from Sean Carter, a survivor of an alcohol-related crash.

While at the retreat, students received “goodbye” letters from their families. Participants also wrote a letter to anyone they wanted. Green wrote a letter to her classmates about the impact their decisions may have. She read the letter to the student body at Friday morning’s assembly.

“Do not let your temptations overcome the love of a family,” Green said. “Our choices matter, it doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter if you think it is a negative or positive choice, your choices matter, even if you don’t think they do. Your today does affect your tomorrow.”

Teacher Jennifer Boren spoke on behalf of teachers at the assembly. Boren’s sister Michelle was killed by a drunken driver on Michelle’s 24th birthday, and Boren’s daughter participated in “Every 15 Minutes” as one of the living dead. Boren said she found it difficult to be put in the role of a parent losing a child.

“My sweet Callie was one of the victims, so we wrote her a letter from our family,” Boren said. “Callie is a loyal friend, she is smart, she is a good writer, she sings like an angel, and she is bold about sharing her faith. To think about her suddenly being gone was something we could hardly imagine.”

During the mock accident portion of the program, Boren played the role of administrator, who along with counselor Robin Terry, notified teacher Debbie Crenshaw that her son Wes had “died” in the accident. Boren said the three of them talked about their priorities as mothers and teachers.

“Mrs. Crenshaw, Mrs. Terry and I had a long time to visit together,” Boren said. “We talked about our kids. Mrs. Terry is about to send her last kid off to college, the Crenshaw’s have been through so much, and we talked about our hopes and our dreams for them and how grateful we were that it was a mock scene.”

Their talk then turned from their families to the lives of their students.

“We talked about our students–the ones that are really gifted by God with theatrical skills, musical skills or athletic skills, those who are blessed with huge talents and abilities, but right now their priorities aren’t in the right order,” Boren said. “The ones that we love very much and have big struggles and come from difficult situations. We talked about how sad it would be if suddenly you were gone, and we didn’t get the chance to pour into you to try to make a difference, so you can have a bright future.”

Boren said the faculty’s main vision for students is for them to graduate equipped to be successful in reaching their goals and dreams.

“That’s why those of us that are teachers, counselors and principals chose that career, because we do care about you guys,” Boren said. “It’s our job to teach you how to be a good citizen and to be kind to others. It’s not just our job, it’s our calling and we feel really passionate about it. When I think about the role of ‘Every 15 Minutes,’ it’s really about making good choices and we have choices every day. Life is full of choices. A lot of choices don’t have consequences, but some choices do.”

Boren said she hopes students will think specifically the choice of what happens when a person gets behind the wheel of a car and has been drinking, taking drugs or is distracted by a phone because the consequences can be huge in just that one moment.

“As a teacher, what I hope comes out of this, is you guys will think about the consequences,” Boren said. “There have been hundreds of hours put into this ‘Every 15 Minutes’ campaign. Personally, for me, if even one of you guys thinks about it this weekend at the prom, it could save a life. If even one student here at Canyon High School makes a better choice, then I think it was worth it.”