Shattered Dreams to Raise DWI Awareness
February 2, 2010

	Lion Ledger Photo Students and faculty were immersed in the reality of the consequences of driving while intoxicated at the 2006 Shattered Dreams program.

On February 16, 2010, at 1:35 p.m. a simulated truck/car crash will occur in the north parking lot in front of Greenville High School. It is the first in a series of public events in the Shattered Dreams DWI awareness program involving both Greenville High and Greenville Christian Schools.

There will be simulated fatalities that will leave the scene in a hearse; one student will die in the hospital ER. Other students will leave by ambulance and a Life Star helicopter, while the "drunk driver" will be given a sobriety test before being handcuffed and taken for booking in a squad car. Actual crashed vehicles will be used and graphic moulage (makeup) will be applied to the student enactors to make the entire scene look startlingly real.

Beginning at 8:00 a.m., a heartbeat will be heard over both schools’ intercoms every 15 minutes. Each time this heartbeat will signal the arrival of the Grim Reaper in an undisclosed classroom, accompanied by a police officer and a DrugFree volunteer, to tap a student to join the "Living Dead". They represent the victims killed every 15 minutes by drunk drivers.

The officer will step into the classroom and announce that their classmate has just been killed in an alcohol-related traffic crash. The volunteer will read a very personalized obituary written with information provided by the student's parents. This obituary, along with a picture of each victim will be posted on the library windows for all to see. The “Living Dead Victims”, transformed by ghostly makeup will return to their classes. They will be unable to speak or interact with any student or teacher.

Simultaneously as the students are called out of class by the Grim Reaper, their parents will be notified by a uniformed police officer along with their pastor or counselor, that their son or daughter has just been killed in a DWI crash. And one family will have the awful job of going to the hospital emergency room only to be told that there was nothing that could be done and their child has just died.

A 911 call broadcast over the intercom at 1:35 will be the notification to the teachers to dismiss their classes to proceed to the crash site. They will see with their own eyes the aftermath and tragedy of a DWI wreck, hear the sirens of the emergency vehicles coming to the scene, witness the first responders as they provide medical care to the victims, view an extrication by firefighters, watch as law enforcement work the scene just as any accident would be worked. The Living Dead students will stand as an honor guard in front of the crosses placed earlier in the day across the grass in memory of each victim.

The “drunk driver” will be booked into jail. Eventually this student will join the other students at an overnight retreat where they will process the day's events and write letters to their parents telling them what they would most want them to know if this had been real and they only had this one last chance to speak to them.

Other meetings that evening will give parents and siblings of the victims the opportunity to talk together and express their feelings. They also will write letters. Professional counselors will volunteer their time and expertise at both meetings to help participants and their families process the day’s very intense events.

The next day a Memorial Assembly starts at 9:30 in the GHS gym. It is a simulated funeral including the entire student body from both campuses, the families, first responders, the Dream Team (steering committee), volunteers and community leaders. The public is encouraged to attend this Memorial to show their support for our community’s youth and their commitment to not drinking /drugging and driving.

At the conclusion of the assembly the “Living Dead victims and their families will reunite and attend the Remembrance Lunch to recognize the heroic effort by various committees, patrons, first responders and volunteers that will have worked for 18 months to make Shattered Dreams a reality. Special recognition will be given especially to the participating students and their families for their outstanding service.

That is where most Shattered Dreams end, but not in Greenville, Texas.

On February 18, the "drunk driver" will be tried in a real courtroom complete with an actual judge, attorneys, jury, witnesses, toxicology report, court reporter and bailiff. After the guilty verdict is delivered the convicted driver will say a last good-bye to parents and be escorted to jail in chains. The trial will be filmed and shown at both high schools to show students the legal consequences of drinking and driving.

Shattered Dreams is designed to make a huge impact on the witnessing students, the families involved and the larger community. Follow-up from previous Shattered Dreams events in Greenville have shown that the experience has far reaching effects and can even change the way families communicate. Post surveys indicate that this immersion learning process produces desired attitudes and behavior among students not only in high school, but in college and beyond.

Hundreds of volunteers from a wide cross section of Greenville are united in their belief that working together we can make a difference in the lives of our young people. Professionals from many fields including law enforcement, EMS, fire, judicial, medical, counselors, school faculty and staff donate time on and off duty, time away from families to work on the many individual events and to make Shattered Dreams a success.

Shattered Dreams 2010 is held early enough this year to impact spring break, the prom season, and graduation – times when many students traditionally drink - and some will die. Other lives will be shattered as innocent victims will be injured and killed. Some students will end their dreams as they enter the prison system as the result of drinking and driving.

Shattered Dreams is conducted in the hope that we never have to experience this tragedy in actuality, but rather each student experiences a bright future with the opportunity to live out their dreams.