The program, Every 15 minutes will be held on February 29 and March 1 for juniors and seniors. This is an emotional two-day program which challenges students to think about drinking, driving, texting while driving, personal safety, and the responsibility of making mature decisions and the impact their decisions have on family, friends, and their community.
Throughout the day, the Grim Reaper selects a student from a class every 15 minutes. An announcement comes on to read the name of the deceased student and their obituary is read. Then the demonstration involves a simulated traffic accident with selected students to play roles in the crash. The local police, coroner, fire fighters, and paramedics work the scene, which leads to the arrest of the driver. The second day, students watch a video of the processing of this student at the jail, letting parents know about the accident and deaths, and identifying the body at the morgue. The funeral scene with peers and parents giving eulogies ends the event.
ASB director of Every 15 minutes, Maddy Jasso sees the benefits to this program. She said, “It can bring a lot more eyes to the situation since we use their peers and their parents to really show the realism of driving under the influence and making bad decisions.”
High Schools all around the country participate in the Every 15 minutes program and really try to connect with students to show the real
consequences of drinking. When Maddy Jasso was also questioned about what she would like students to take from this demonstration, she said, “I really just want it to touch the hearts of students and really show them that being involved in driving under the influence can really cause damage to not only you, but the community as a whole. I am glad I can be a part of this with my peers and learn the cause of one’s actions.”
Every 15 Minutes has been around since its birth in California by Chico PD in 1995. The Every 15 minutes demonstration is shown on campus every two years, alternating years with cross town high school, Pacheco High.
Here is a YouTube video of the event from 2022.
