Three CHS students ‘die’ in mock accident

Three Clarendon High School students “died” following a mock accident sponsored by the student council Monday afternoon.

The Shattered Dreams program illustrated the dangers of drinking and driving by staging a crash and the resulting efforts of first responders in front of the high school and junior high student bodies.

“The situation was four girls had been drinking at a party and were driving, and they ran into car with three sober boys,” student council sponsor Tammi Lewis said.

The program included assistance from the Associated Ambulance Authority, the Donley County Sheriff’s Office, the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department, the Department of Public Safety, and North West Texas Hospital’s LifeStar helicopter, which landed near the scene.

A vehicle used in the crash was actually the wreckage from a real alcohol-related accident in which a life was lost.

One of the girls, portrayed by Kyla Dunahm, was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Pat White and loaded into a hearse from Robertson Funeral Home. Two other students, played by Noab Elam and Caton Grahn, died in route to the hospital.

The remaining four students were injured. The driver of the girls’ car, portrayed by student council president Brandalyn Ellis, was administered a sobriety test on scene, arrested, fingerprinted, jailed, and sentenced to a total of 60 years in prison and a $30,000 fine by Judge John Howard.

Lewis said the program, funded in part by the Bryce Kennedy Foundation, continued on Tuesday with memorial services and a video shot by students, which recorded the entire program from the accident, the notification of parents, and the sentencing.

Another video showed the impact such an accident had on a real family, and a CHS alumnus, who had lost her fiancé in such an accident, also addressed the students.

“You could have heard a pin drop when she finished,” Lewis said. “We mainly just wanted to get kids to make better choices. I tell them there is always someone you can get to take you home. Even your parents… you may get in trouble, but they would rather drive you home than see this happen.”