To teach that drinking and driving can have deadly consequences, Tecumseh High School students attended a mock funeral Wednesday, where each student walked before an open casket and saw a reflection of themselves in a mirror, all to convey the message that it could be any one of them.
The annual program to teach the dangers of getting behind the wheel drunk is a timely message with Tecumseh’s prom scheduled Saturday night.
THS Leadership students Kenra O’Shell, Jessica Lindsey and Jessica Harwell coordinated activities to demonstrate the effects of drunk driving. They worked with Tecumseh Police Officer Dee VanDuser and other local community members to present a mock vehicle crash and funeral.
Rainy weather Wednesday prevented the outdoor part of the mock crash, where emergency vehicles were scheduled to arrive on the scene in front of student spectators who would watch their classmates being “rescued” from the crash. Because of the rain, an announcement with details about a “crash” involving their classmates was made over the intercom while sirens from VanDuser’s patrol car blared in the background.
Brown and Sons Wrecker Service had already brought two wrecked vehicles to the school for the drunk driving simulation. For the mock drill, the driver of a Mercury Cougar, Corey Eagleston, was said to have been going eastbound in the westbound lane before colliding with a Geo Metro driven by Eddie Kidney, VanDuser said. While police “investigated” the mock accident, Eagleston was arrested for DUI while his passenger, his girlfriend and the prom queen, Tahnee Prewett, was treated for injuries. For purpose of the mock drill, students heard the other driver, Eddie Kidney, was taken to a hospital by helicopter. His passengers were Jordan Dye and Katie Sparks, the announcement said, with students hearing that Jordan suffered injuries and that Katie Sparks had “died” in the mock accident.
Students were told that many attempted to stop Eagleston from driving his vehicle from an after-prom party where alcohol was being consumed, but were unsuccessful, so Prewett got in the vehicle with him. Eddie Kidney and his two passengers were going to breakfast and had not consumed any alcohol before the “accident” occurred, the scenario read.
The afternoon assembly for Sparks’ mock funeral was held for the entire student body in the Alumni Building. The scene played out just like a real funeral — Jim and J. Cooper and staff from Cooper Funeral Home helped seat the students and passed out “obituary” programs.
There was a signing of guest books, music playing and a silver casket and flowers, along with a picture slide show and tribute for Sparks.
The “funeral” was officiated by Brother Jerry Kuhn, with flowers provided by Tecumseh Flowers. Tecumseh firefighters attended the event, along with family members of Sparks. Because the Leadership students couldn’t act out the crash scene in the rainy weather, they attended the mock funeral in costume, with their clothing depicting “injuries” from the crash.
While everything to this point was a scenario, the student body also got a dose of reality from someone who has been directly affected by an alleged drunk driver.
Darrell, an Earlsboro High school student, was the guest speaker who told of his experiences losing one leg in a crash with an alleged drunk driver about 300 feet from his dad’s home, just moments after a tanker truck had passed him.
“Two seconds later, I’m turned sideways and screaming,” he said.
He said the crash has forever changed his life, including his love for playing baseball.
“Baseball’s over. I can’t jump on a trampoline,” he told the students. “It’s a lot of stuff for somebody else’s decision.”
And while teachers and police coordinating the event worked to send a message for students not to drink, he was candid with the student body.
“I know you’re gonna drink, but if you do, be responsible,” he said. “Please, please, please be responsible. I’m sure everyone would rather see you in person than in a casket,” he said, urging them to call their parents if they need a ride home.
The mock funeral continued with a “eulogy” for Sparks, where Kuhn told the students that the decisions they make affect everyone around them.
“It’s not about you — it’s about your family and friends,” Kuhn said, reminding them, “It’s your future — your goals, dreams and ambitions won’t be what you want them to be.”
As the mock funeral concluded, students participated in a recessional and walked by the casket for “viewing.” Many didn’t look, but those who did saw their own reflections in a mirror, used because Officer VanDuser said, “It could be anyone.”
Each year before prom, VanDuser said she passes out business cards with her cell phone number and tells the students to call her if they need anything that night, all in hopes of making a difference and preventing a tragedy. Last year, one student called her at 1:30 a.m., she said, so she woke up to go take that student home.
To further the message about the dangers of drunk driving, Tecumseh students continued activities at school Thursday with the Grim Reaper symbolically “killing” one student every 15 minutes to show the statistics related to drunk driving accidents, she said.
TECUMSEH, Okla. —
