Then another soundtrack blared over the loudspeakers at the football field at Venice High School, but it wasn't a familiar song. Instead, it was the most horrifying sound you've ever heard: tires screeching and two cars colliding, one flipping over and rolling for several feet.

Soon the tarps that covered a large portion of the playing field for the "Survive the Drive" assembly were pulled back, showing the damage that had been done: bodies hanging in and out of the vehicles, beer cans and broken glass scattered around pools of blood.

The frantic voice on a recording of a 911 call reported that things did not look good for the teenagers in the car. The sounds of the fire rescue truck, ambulances and police cars filled the air.

Next was the sound of a helicopter approaching. Someone was in critical condition and needed to be airlifted to the hospital. "Let me see my daughter," two people shouted, crying hysterically. But it was too late. Their daughter had died in the accident. They seemed disbelieving that this could happen to their child.

The scene was shocking, both to students in the audience and to those involved in re-enacting the accident for the school assembly, presented by the Sarasota County Fire Department, the Venice police and fire departments, the Florida Highway Patrol and Bayflite. The mangled vehicles were from actual car crashes. The reality was stark: Such tragedy can happen to anyone's daughter or son, anyone's friend, anyone.

"One of the hardest parts of my job is to announce that someone has died," said Daniel Parrett, principal of Venice High School, after the assembly. Parrett said he planned the assembly because he hoped to save lives by showing such a dramatic scene.

Students said the assembly was a very touching experience, especially when the mother and father were trying to get to their daughter. The powerful testimony of Denise Salerno-Jackson, whose 12-year-old daughter was killed in a drunken driving accident, also drew many tears in the student audience.

"It was a good time to have the assembly, right before winter break, but it might have been more effective if it had been held before homecoming or prom," said Jonathan Norris, 16, a junior. The re-enactment was most effective, he said, in the way it made students think about how it could be their own parents crying and talking about them.

The assembly hit close to home for Heather Bryan, 16, also a junior, whose friend had been injured seriously in an accident that killed the drunken driver.

The assembly definitely made an impact. I was one of the students in the re-enactment, playing a passenger in one of the cars. I was lucky enough to walk away (the script called for my injuries to be serious but not fatal). Being part of such a shocking scene really drove the point home: What can happen if you (or others) drink alcohol and drive is that you (or others) can die.

Driving sober is a good way to ensure that you're not the one the yearbook is dedicated to.

* * *

Joshua A. Bellis, 15, is in the ninth grade at Venice High School.

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright