Every 15 Minutes concluded today with an assembly, which featured a video explaining the story and aftermath of yesterday’s car crash as well as letter-reading by participating students and their family members.
The assembly began with a video senior Danny Parris created, depicting the events before and after the simulated car crash.
In the video, all but one of the students involved in the crash, senior Jeff Gruen, spent the hours before the accident drinking. Senior Alex Hobby, who volunteered to be a designated driver, ended up drinking at a simulated party and then drove his friends home while intoxicated.
“I’m invincible,” he repeated in the video, when his friends tried to caution him against drinking and driving. “I weigh like 230 pounds.”
The video included scenes of each student in the hospital, including a scene where a doctor told Gruen he was paralyzed. Parris also incorporated a scene at the police station where Hobby realized the impact of his actions.
Students felt the video effectively tied together yesterday’s events with the program’s overall message.
“To know the full story behind the car crash made it much more significant than just seeing it through the live feed yesterday,” freshman Ryan Savage said.
During their retreat yesterday, the twenty-one students who represented the living dead and the five involved in the simulated crash wrote letters to their parents as if they were dead. The letters gave the victims a chance to tell their families what they’d never had a chance to say before.
“To begin, I wish I had said I love you so much more, to let you know I am as much a part of this family as you would like to think,” senior Helene Benz wrote.
Different students read their letters in the two assemblies, but most of the elements remained the same. Guest speaker Pam Lieber spoke about her sister’s death in 1987, which occurred when a drunk driver hit her while she was walking to her car. Senior Jonathan Domingos, an EMT in Prince George’s County, discussed a car accident in which he was hit by a drunk driver and suffered severe injuries as a result.
“It takes confidence to stand before you today and ask you to make the more difficult choice of sober, of being the designated driver,” Lieber said during the assembly,“to ask you to have confidence to be the one voice that speaks out against bad choices, to be the one who takes the keys away from someone who shouldn’t be driving.”
The assembly concluded with remarks from each of the participating students reminding the audience that Every 15 Minutes is meant to create a lasting impact on the decisions they make in the future.
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anon • Mar 22, 2011 at 7:34 am
can you please put the video back up or a link to it? never got to see it.
Well... • Mar 21, 2011 at 6:24 pm
…I don’t know. The first video that we all saw on the first day had no effect at all–in fact, that whole 1st day [thought I am not on the B&W)I was writing a humor article in my mind about the subject. In my mind, the project was a waste, based on the students’ reactions around me.
I do think the second day was much more powerful–the new video chronicling the story was well done. The tears of the speakers didn’t move me to do the same; I felt uncomfortable. I felt that because the whole story was fake–why tears? If the tears were real, then…why? It’s fake! (Granted, some can’t bear even the thought of their loved ones leaving them…) And fake tears aren’t necessary at all.
Great second video, first day was a disaster that I still am itching to make fun of. I can’t help it…the first day affected nobody, from what I observed.
student • Mar 20, 2011 at 9:09 pm
Will BlackandWhite post the video they made for the assembly?
This was Moving • Mar 18, 2011 at 10:43 pm
I cried so much. I just feel like seeing people you know, acting as if they died…it really brings it home for you. All the while people were up there reading their letters, I just kept thinking, “What if it were me?”
iWasAngryIDidn'tCry • Mar 17, 2011 at 8:21 pm
I was moved by the whole experience. Oddly enough, the first day produced the most impact on me, not sure why. The video was powerful, though, and as the letters were read I had to turn away sometimes. I REALLY hope this makes people change their ways for the better.
iCriedToo • Mar 17, 2011 at 9:37 am
I agree with the above commenter. This assembly was a powerful presentation. It hits egven closer to home for students because it involves their friends, people they know and care about. I know for a fact the assembly got to me. Halfway through the first letter, I was crying quite a bit.
R. Kerr • Mar 17, 2011 at 9:22 am
It was very moving, the family letters were the most powerful.
iCried • Mar 17, 2011 at 7:48 am
The presentation had such a powerful affect – I was in tears the whole time. I heard the presentation is only every 4 years, which mean this is the only time the freshman will see it.
I feel like it should be be done every 3 years, that way the freshman get a repeat, and it’s sort of like a reminder. Seeing the presentation as a freshman, when you can’t drive, isn’t as affective as it is for the upperclassmen.
I loved the presentation and I think it tought us all an important lesson!