This article was written by Brook’lynn Russau
One event each year forces Northview upperclassmen to confront the reality of dangerous decision making. Sirens cut through the morning air as fire trucks roll into the parking lot, EMS crews step out with equipment bags, and hundreds of students fall silent. By the end of this event, these students find themselves watching a heart felt performance teaching the reality that drinking and driving is not worth the risk.
The Northview District formed this annual event over a decade ago to teach students about the consequences of poor decisions while driving using the help of all emergency medical services. Police, ambulance, and fire department donate their time to show how detrimental drinking and driving can be. This reenactment of a crash was meant to be a heads up going into Prom weekend about the impact drinking and driving can have on a community. The district hopes seeing a simulated accident that appears real-life teaches students what not to do and to avoid all accidents as much as possible. Any upperclassmen student at the high school can join to participate in this event, and can talk directly to science teacher Brian Bollone who is the leader of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), the group in charge of the event.
Early January is when SADD has the first two meetings to coordinate the accident simulation with other agencies like the Plainfield Township government, the Plainfield township Fire Department, Life EMS, Rockford, Kent County Sheriff’s Department, and sometimes the Michigan State Police.
Bollone knows the team puts a significant amount of effort into convincing students to look past the fact that it’s a staged event and also push the students to make them feel the weight of their choices.
“Our goal is to give awareness to students, let them see what the consequences would be. We try to always have juniors involved in the assembly so that they have a little more of a connection with it. Trying to make it as realistic as possible. Sometimes kids don’t take it as seriously, but I know all the people involved, they treat it as the real situation,” Bollone said.
Bollone feels SADD’s mission extends far beyond a single assembly, focusing on helping students build safer habits long before they ever get behind the wheel.
“Just making good choices. That is the whole idea behind SADD, I hope they just take that time to not do something that could jeopardize them or someone else,” Bollone said.
Bollone also wants students to recognize that the message hits harder when students understand how these situations play out in real life and how often they affect people close to home.
“I mean, everyone knows that when there’s a collision, there’s a person that caused it, and then there’s the victim. We’ve had a number of people in this building who’ve been victims of car collisions when it wasn’t their own fault.” Bollone said.
For Senior Keiarrah Reid, the realism of the scene didn’t just teach a lesson, it changed the way she thought about her own safety.
“Clearly nobody was hurt, but looking around and seeing everyone fake hurt opened my eyes. I wouldn’t do anything like that. Like now I don’t want to be around people. I just don’t want to put myself in that kind of situation at all, whether it’s me or whoever I’m with,” Reid said.
For Reid, the intensity and realism of the mock scene helped the audience engage with and take the situation to heart.
“I think everyone who was in the assembly and played a part in it, they took it very seriously and they were kind of moved by it themselves. I think if everyone genuinely took it seriously and actually heard what we were saying, and the experience that was going on. It’s very beneficial for all grades,” Reid said.
Senior SADD member Nora Geysbeck thought she knew what to expect going into the simulations, and was surprised by the emotions it brought up in her.
“It was actually kind of scary at first. They broke the window and there was glass everywhere and it was kind of freaky. I didn’t realize it was gonna be so somber,” Geysbeck said.
The assembly really resonated with Geysbeck. Especially after seeing and hearing what witnessing deadly accidents has on the first responders themselves.
“It was really beneficial to hear from the paramedics who have had to take care of these emergencies and stuff from bad decisions that are made on Prom night, so I think that was the most impactful part,” Geysbeck said.
Senior Khole Potts noticed that the most sobering moment did not only come from the scene itself but the statistics that were shared afterward.
“I honestly didn’t know that there were a lot of crashes that happened during prom week. But after being informed on how many crashes do happen and how many people pass away due to reckless driving it really just stuck with me. It made me more cautious during prom week,” Potts said.
The lesson behind the high school’s mock crash lingers far longer than the scene itself. This event is more than just an assembly, it’s a life meaning and it stretches far beyond the parking lot. For the students who watched and especially for those who took part; the event is more than a performance. It’s a reminder that one choice behind the wheel can change everything. And for Northview, that reminder is worth repeating every single year.
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