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| 16 June 2000 - West Hills High School Rude Awakening By Jane Bye and Brittany Comey Every fifteen minutes, there is someone who is seriously injured, or even killed, by a drunk driver. On June 7, this horrific reality hit home for juniors and seniors of West Hills with the reenactment of a fatal car accident and its aftermath. The students stood on the south side of Mast Boulevard, within thirty feet of the crash scene; as smoke arose the crowd heard a young girl's desperate plea for assistance as the victims lay lifeless. What followed was a chaotic scene, consisting of firefighters, police, and paramedics rushing to save the lives of the living victims. One student, Evan Fox, was pronounced dead on arrival. When the police arrived it was discovered that the driver of the small red vehicle, Noah Diaz, was under the influence of alcohol. After being examined for injuries, Noah was forced to take a field sobriety test, and then placed under arrest. The jaws of life were quickly brought in to extract Erin Martin who was trapped inside the driver's seat of the mangled Range Rover. The passenger, Matt Hutchings, was brought to the hospital via ambulance. Martin was transported by Mercy Air. After the injured victims were taken care of, the firefighters turned their attention to the morbid task of placing Fox in a casket and loading him into a hearse. The audience stood sullen as they watched a fellow classmate being taken away, never to see him again. Later in the day, after going through the entire booking process, Diaz was put on trial on two counts of vehicular manslaughter. All student participants were present. At the trial he was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison. Earlier in the day, the Grim Reaper walked silently to various classrooms, bringing death to several students. This was done to have students realize that anyone can be affected by a drunk driver. After they were made up to look dead, they were escorted back to class by a police officer, who then read an obituary written by the deceased's parents. When asked why she chose to participate, junior Jessica Nager replied, "I couldn't not do it." When asked to respond to the simulation, junior Heather Sears said, "It made me appreciate my family and friends more, and made me realize that they could be taken away in an instant." On June 8, an assembly was held to show students what had happened after the crash and to reiterate the message that was being sent. It opened with a funeral procession where each of the living dead students and crash members walked out holding a lit candle that was then blown out by the Grim Reaper. A casket in remembrance of the lives lost was carried out and placed in the center of the gym for the remainder of the assembly. The students who participated in the program, and their parents, were asked to write letters to each other saying what they would, if they only had one last chance to contact one another. Two keynote speakers then told the listeners about their own experiences with alcohol-related crashes. The day concluded with seniors Rebecca Bartell and Evan Fox asking students to join them in the pledge to never drink and drive. Article Snapshot 1 (43K) Article Snapshot 2 (38K) |
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