Deadly Demonstration

ST. IGNATIUS — One Mission High School student “died” and four were “injured” after a “drunk-driving accident” at the high school on Thursday afternoon.

While the students weren’t really hurt, the accident was a sobering reminder about the perils of drinking and texting while driving.

For the first time since 2006, Mission put on a Ghost Out, a simulation of what could happen in a real-life drunk driving crash. Every year, an area school conducts the event, which is intended to raise awareness to students at an early age about the dangers of driving under the influence.

Students Sara Bowers, Rose Bear Don’t Walk, JaNeal McDonald and Morgan Andres organized the event, making phone calls and arrangements to have local law enforcement, ambulances and Life Flight on hand to create the most realistic scene possible. The group also made a powerpoint on the dangers of both drinking and texting and driving, which was viewed at an assembly preceding the crash.

“Kids are very much visual learners, plus this method appeals to many senses; sight, sound, tactile as well as emotional,” said teacher Terry Cable.

During class on Thursday, a student was removed every 15 minutes by the Grim Reaper to illustrate the rate at which alcohol-related incidents claim a life. The students later returned as ghosts.

“The ghosts had gruesome makeup applied and returned to class unable to speak for the remainder of the day, indicating they were ‘dead,’” Cable said.

Posters lined the hallways, announcements were laced with facts and a casket with a mirror sat in the commons area with the warning, “This could be you if you drink and drive” accompanying the casket.

At the assembly, ghosts circled the casket and students listened to Margene Asay from Tribal Health speak, before signing a pledge to not drink and drive, entering them in a drawing for a pair of $50 gas cards. They also donned beer goggles and played games to simulate what a few drinks can do to your perception. Finally, the aforementioned four students showed a graphic video about the dangers of drinking and driving so powerful, some students left crying.

Following the assembly, students were led outside where a scene displayed a two-car collision and injured bodies, their peers, in grave condition. The Grim Reaper eerily patrolled the scene while a 911 call was made. One student, the drunk driver in the re-enactment, yelled hysterically for his friend until police and ambulances arrived.

There, the drunk driver was handcuffed while paramedics rushed to attend to one student in the bed of a truck and firefighters extricated three students in a car, using the Jaws of Life to get to two of them. Ambulances led two students away while a third was transported via Life Flight.

“All the law enforcement and Life Flight personnel were eager to be of service,” Cable said.

The Ghost Out lasted roughly 45 minutes, plenty of time for student to absorb the impact drinking and driving can have on them and their friends.

“The use of their peers and friends in the accident and as ghosts brings the message closer to home for them,” Cable said.

The four students received help from school resource officer Nate Lundeen and St. Ignatius ambulance crew member Joseph Mitchell to put on the Ghost Out and will be presenting their project at the state Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) conference in Billings from March 25-27.

“We would like to thank all people involved,” said Cable. “It was a wonderful display of community, both in and out of the school. Much time, effort and money was spent to try and save a child’s life.”