Reality comes to life for BHS students, continued

      On Wednesday, shortly after the first bell rang, a student was pulled from class by the Grim Reaper. That student returned to class as a part of the “Living Dead,” made up to look like a corpse and on a mission to be seen but not heard for the rest of the day. This pattern continued throughout the day, with obituaries hung in the hallway after each “death.” This portion of the program represented a person being killed every 15 minutes in an alcohol-related crash, and was intended to both set the tone for the rest of the program and to give students a feel for what it would be like to live with the memory of a friend but unable to have them as part of their regular lives. The students who played a role as a living dead were Dylan Ansley, Aurelio Dominguez, Erica Dorman, Andrew Roberts, Nancy Espinoza, Yvette Maltos, Dakota Champion, and Kirby McNair.

      “Leon County Sheriff Deputy Ron Harshman came out to my house on Wednesday morning and told me he had some bad news. He said that Dylan had been involved in an alcohol related accident by the school and that the emergency responders did everything they could for him, but he didn’t make it,” parent Melissa Ansley said. Dylan was pulled from his first period class. “Although I knew it wasn’t real, I felt really hopeless and it seemed so real to me at that time. I just wanted to see Dylan one more time, but I knew I couldn’t.” 

Mock Crash Scenario

 

      On Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. a mock crash took place in which eight students were involved. In the scenario, a drunk driver was driving down the highway, weaving all over the road. The driver weaved over into oncoming traffic, causing a car to veer over into the opposite lane which resulted in a head-on collision. The drunk driver drove into a ditch. There was one casualty on the scene. Two were lifeflighted in critical condition where one died, two were seriously injured and transported by ambulances, and two were taken to the hospital by ground crew. All were transported to the ETMC-Fairfield hospital.

      Chris Mullins, who played the role as the drunk driver, was actually booked in the Leon County Jail. Kirk Ringland died on the scene and was transported to the Buffalo Funeral Home after being identified by his mother, placed in a body bag, and loaded into the funeral home van. Krystal Padgett died at the hospital. Megan Mundy was critically injured. Those who were seriously injured included Allison Dawson and Ashley Elsom. Kaila Grissett and Jordan Nix were treated for minor injuries.

      “This has been absolutely the most powerful program I have ever witnessed,” student council advisor Melonie Menefee, who was the coordinator at the high school for the Shattered Dreams Program, said. “If for no other fact than that there are so many dozens of people – police, EMS, firefighters, county officials, people who do not even know our kids – give up their time to help us with this is incredible to me. As a parent and as a teacher, I am so thankful to everyone who had a part. I love these kids and pray that this has touched each and every one of them.”

Wednesday Night

 

      After the mock crash on Wednesday, those involved in the Shattered Dreams Program attended an overnight retreat at the Stewart Memorial United Methodist Church where Michael Chism and Carrie Kenny with the Brazos Valley Council Alcohol and Substance Abuse spoke with the students. All of the students involved in the program were sequestered, not allowed to communicate with family or friends for the night. Again, this was to simulate both to the participants and to members of the community the absence of someone involved in a tragedy of this type. Also involved at the retreat were the campus photographers who caught everything on film from the make-up applications to the booking of Mullins in the county jail. Teachers Dana Morris and Melonie Menefee attended the retreat to chaperone and help counsel the students.

      “The retreat was a terrific way for the kids to bond, to let their feelings out, and to strengthen their resolve to be leaders in this school,” Menefee said. It was an emotional night for us all. We all shed plenty of tears, but we laughed a lot, too. I am so incredibly proud of these kids. They are so strong.”

 

Assembly

 

      On Thursday morning at 9 a.m., an assembly was held in the BHS auditorium. BHS principal Don Elsom welcomed and thanked everyone for coming. “Our community has stepped out on faith to help us,” Elsom said. “Remember it’s not just your dreams that are shattered, it shatters the dreams of those around you as well.” Elsom, whose daughter Ashley was one of the crash victims, spoke of the fact that the crash had brought back emotions and memories for many of the participants and spectators who had lost loved ones in other tragic accidents; he said that the trip to the hospital to see Ashley was full of memories of the day during his senior year in high school when he learned that both of his parents were killed and his sister seriously injured in a car accident.

      Monte Atchley then spoke on behalf of his daughter, Maegen, who was killed by a drunk driver in front of Leon High School on December 10, 2006. He told the students that more than 16,000 people die each year due to alcohol related accidents. He compared that to the 7,000 that have been killed in Iraq in the past six years.

      “We are in a war ourselves,” Atchley said. “We lose over 16,000 people a year in a war that we create. It is time for it to stop.”

      Atchley told some of his memories of his daughter, before showing a power point against drunk driving that Megan started before she was killed. He finished it after her death.

      “You can have fun in life. You don’t have to have anything in your system,” Atchley said. “Just live your life having fun without the alcohol and drugs.”

      Atchley concluded by having everyone close their eyes while he took them on a trip that he traveled on the night of December 10, 2006, the night his daughter was killed by a drunk driver.

      “Find out who you really are,” Atchley said. “Once you die, you are no longer a person. You are a statistic.”

      A slide show was then played which included pictures taken by the high school journalism staff from Wednesday so the student body could see the action that took place the day before up close.

      Chris Mullins, a student participant in the program, then spoke to his fellow classmates about his experience. “It really hits home whenever you see a good friend lying on the ground dead knowing that you caused it even though it was a mock crash,” Mullins said. “It hurt whenever that cell door at the jail closed behind me knowing what I had just done. If it would have been for real, I would have sat there for the rest of my life, carrying it with me. Please have fun in life, but not with drinking. It’s not the way.”

      Megan Mundy, another student participant, then spoke. “It is so hard seeing a friend die,” Mundy said. “It is not something anyone needs to go through.”

      Parent participant speakers DeAundra Mullins and Stephanie Mundy then encouraged the students to take the crash to heart and that it could happen for real.

      Leon County Sheriff Mike Price and Buffalo PD Lt. Jerry Wakefield then spoke to the students. Both men emphasized that accidents also affect law enforcement and that they both have memories from previous accidents.

      “Understand that we live this everyday,” Price said. “Take this to heart. Use your judgment. Take care of yourself so we will have you for a long productive time.”   

      Leon County District Attorney Whitney Smith then addressed the student body. “What we take from this today is what our community will have,” Smith said. “That decision is left up to you all.”

      Melissa Granberry, a speaker for MADD, then told students that over 700 people were affected last year in this area. “We do not call it an accident, we call it a crash,” Granberry said. “It was no accident that you had the keys in your hand and opened the door with alcohol in your system. It was a choice that affects the lives of all of those around you.”

      Granberry went on and had everyone pull out their car keys and shake them in the air. “That is the sound of freedom. The community is in your hands. You have a lot of responsibility,” Granberry said. “Don’t take the chance to turn that vehicle into a deadly weapon.”   

      Sheila Patterson with the Leon County Coalition then emphasized that as you grow older you will make more and more choices and she challenged the students to make the right ones. 

      Dace McCormick, a 2002 graduate from BHS, who currently works with the Jewett EMS and the River Plantation Fire Department spoke to the students about an alcohol-related accident that claimed the life of a six year girl on Saturday night.

      “The choice is yours,” McCormick said. “I could stand up here and talk to you all day, but ultimately, the choice is yours.”

      Annitta Hannah and David Nobles, who are with the Jewett EMS and who were instrumental in putting the entire program together, then presented awards to the student participants for all of their hard work and dedication to the Shattered Dreams Program.

      At the conclusion of the program, students walked in orderly fashion to the front of the auditorium where a casket was set up with a mirror inside. Students could see themselves and see what consequences could come from drinking and driving.  

 

      Some of the many volunteers involved in the Shattered Dreams program were the Buffalo VFD, Leon County Sheriff's Department, Buffalo Police Department, Palestine Regional EMS, K & L Transport, DPS, Justice of Peace Pct. #1 Lori Reid, Air EVAC Med 53, PHI Med 12, Buffalo High School faculty, students and parents, ETMC - Fairfield, Fairfield VFD, Freestone County Sheriff's Department, Buffalo Funeral Home, Leon County Coalition, Brazos Valley Council Alcohol and Substance Abuse, Janet Duke, Monica Bundick, Mable Cash, and It's Catered!