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Kelly Van Aken lays motionless on the wet pavement of the Saratoga High School parking lot. Her classmates, Greg Van Hoesen and Sean Bacon, sit buckled, trapped and semiconscious in a car crushed beneath a vehicle driven by a drunken driver.
Sitting in the bleachers in the brisk morning air, students, staff members and parents watch in fear, some in tears, as emergency rescue crews work fiercely to free the victims from their vehicle. And they watch with horror as Van Aken's bloody torso is zipped into a body bag and taken to the morgue.
This scenario—all too familiar to Saratoga High School students, who have lost classmates to similar traffic fatalities in recent years—is everyone's worst nightmare. And this nightmare came far too close to reality for those who witnessed the event.
This is a typical scene involving drunken drivers, but fortunately this was a staged accident, part of a two-day program called Every 15 Minutes. The exercise is designed to show students the consequences of making bad decisions, including driving under the influence, and encourages students to exercise good judgment. The program is a collaboration among many organizations, including the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, the Saratoga Fire Department, American Medical Response and the California Highway Patrol.
Every 15 Minutes, titled by the Alcohol Beverage Control agency, was named appropriately. When it was established in 1997, statistics showed that one person every 15 minutes was killed as a result of drinking and driving. However, since the schools started adopting the program, the number of drunken drivingrelated incidences has dropped to one every 30 minutes.
The program, which includes assemblies on consecutive days, is one of the more effective school programs, leaving a lasting impression on the students, according to Saratoga High School Assistant Principal Karen Hyde, who spearheaded the program with the assistance of some students and parent volunteers.
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Photograph by George Sakkestad
In an Every 15 Minutes simulation, coroners from the Santa Clara County Office place Kelly Van Aken in a body bag as the Grim Reaper looms over her.
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Four students staged a fatal accident on the first day, and all 24 participants—20 who had been pulled out of their classrooms earlier in the morning by a Grim Reaper figure and designated to be members of the "living dead"—performed a mock funeral on the second day.
In addition to the school's administration and faculty, only three dozen students and their parents knew about the program, leaving the rest of the students confused about what they had just seen.
It was supposed to be a regular day for many students—or so they thought—with first period starting early in the morning and a "special assembly" scheduled between third and fourth periods. With the exception of a couple of innocent April Fools' tricks students played on one another, it was a typical day. In the morning, students filed into their classes as usual, sitting in their seats and taking out their textbooks and homework assignments. Junior Alan Cheng and sophomore Richard Chen say they anticipated sitting through another "boring" standard assembly where staff and speakers would discuss budget matters or war issues. They and many other students say they were not prepared to see such a gruesome scene—nor did they expect to be hit with the emotional ceremony that followed the day after.
On April 2, the students and parents watched as the Every 15 Minutes participants somberly walked through the gym, rolling a casket, to the gloomy sounds of a violin. The last to enter were the two surviving victims, Van Hoesen—in a wheelchair—and Bacon—on crutches.
At the ceremony, two parents and two students read letters they wrote while at an overnight retreat. Van Aken and Van Hoesen were among them.
Van Aken's letter started with a heartfelt line: "Every time I get off the phone with you or get ready to go somewhere, I want to tell you I love you." She continued by expressing her love and appreciation for her parents.
"I'm proud of you," she said.
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Photograph by George Sakkestad
In an Every 15 Minutes simulation, a corrections officer tests drunken driver Scott Elfving.
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Van Hoesen says it was not difficult to write his letter because there were so many things he wanted to say. It was, however, difficult to read, especially with his mother sitting in the audience.
His letter read: "Today I can't give you a hug. Today I can't play the guitar. Today I can't run. Hell, I can't even walk."
Greg's mother, Jill, says she thought she was prepared for the whole event but was shocked when she saw her son, bleeding and unconscious, during the first assembly and in a wheelchair in the second.
"There's a fine line between what was played and reality," she says. "It felt so real and sobering."
But for guest speaker Judy Peckler, it was a real experience. Peckler lost her husband, Jim, and two of her children, Jill and Jeff, to an accident involving a repeated drunken driver offender, who later pleaded guilty for murder and was sentenced to 24 years in jail.
Some audience members cried and others fought back tears as Peckler told stories about her children and showed videos of them dancing, running track and lip-synching.
Jill, who was 21 years old, was a genetics major at UC-Davis and was close to receiving her degree. She played various sports, including tennis and track, at Los Gatos High School and volunteered her time and energy for community service. Two weeks before the accident she called her parents, asking them to pick her up from a bar because she and her friends had been drinking.
Jeff, who was 15 years old, was considered a joker. Described as a caring teenager, he wanted to be a doctor. He was the winner of various writing awards. On the day he was supposed to graduate from Los Gatos High School, Peckler was invited to receive a diploma in honor of her son.
The gravity of the situation is exactly what Hyde intended.
"The element of surprise is especially important in an event like this because it makes a greater impact on the students," she says. "We wanted to make it as real as possible. We wanted to raise a lot of questions."
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Photograph by George Sakkestad
Greg Van Hoesen sits in a wheelchair during a mock funeral.
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The program did more than spark discussion among the students and their teachers as they prepared for fifth period—it left many students and parents in shock and tears as they huddled in groups and comforted one another after the ceremony.
"It hit me hard," says Sarah Gold, who witnessed a similar scene on Fruitvale Avenue that involved two classmates who fell victim to reckless driving. "It brought back a lot of bad memories."
Although she knew that the event was not real, Gold added that it was difficult to see Van Aken, a good friend of hers, laying on the ground. She says she couldn't bear the thought of losing such a great person.
Mark Weiner, whose brother played a "living dead," says he was speechless after the ceremony although he had had a vague idea earlier in the day of what was going on.
The morning of the ceremony, Mark was notified by an officer that his younger brother had gotten into an accident.
"Nothing came through my head for a second," says Mark. "Then I started thinking, 'This can't be real.' "
He knew it wasn't real because of the camera crew that showed up at his door, in addition to events that did not add up. For example, his mother told him she was going to drive his brother to school that day, even though he usually does it.
Mark says that throughout the ceremony, instead of reminding himself that what he was seeing was not real, he kept telling himself, "This could have been real."
Mark's mother, Kathy, who was one of the parent volunteers, says her active participation in the program was a "labor of love" and she hopes this will make a big impact on her three children as well as other students.
"It's all about making choices," says Kathy. "The purpose of the program is to not make people afraid of what's out there. It's about seeing the consequences of your actions."
Barbara Elfving, whose son Scott played the drunk driver, says she feels safe that her son won't drink and drive because of the frequent open discussions she has with him. She also has Scott, who is the fourth of her four sons, read newspaper articles about drunken drivingrelated incidences.
Despite her confidence in her sons' good judgment, she can't help but wonder.
"Every Friday and Saturday night I play that 'what if' tape over and over in my mind," says Elfving. "Before they go out on the weekend, I remind them to not do anything that they can't discuss with us. 'If you're not sure, don't do it.' "
Though the ceremony was heart-wrenching and emotional to watch, Elfving says it is worth the time and effort that the volunteers put into the program.
"If the message sinks in with even just one student, it's worth it. If it saves one person, it's worth it," she says.
The message was loud and clear for students like seniors Andrea Evans and Candis Teerlink, who admitted to attending parties where underage drinking is involved.
"I didn't realize the enormity of the situation," says Teerlink. "The ceremony put into perspective that it can happen to anyone."
Evans added that she realizes incidents such as these happen every day and tear apart families.
"It made me think twice," she says. "You can be hurting more than yourself by choosing to driving reckless."
Evans and Teerlink say they don't drink but that they know others who do.
"It made me realize that I need to be there for my friends to make sure they're making the right decisions. That's what friends are for," says Teerlink.
It's because of such positive responses that Hyde decided to take on this project last April amidst criticism from some staff members and those still sensitive to the deaths of Saratoga students due to reckless driving.
"If we can stop others from suffering, it's worth the money, time and effort that the students, staff and parents put into it," says Hyde, adding that the number of designated drivers increased after the program was first incorporated at the school four years ago. That number slowly decreased throughout the years, and Hyde says she would like to see participation go back up.
Capt. John Hirokawa from the Sheriff's Department Westside Substation says he hasn't seen many drunken driving cases involving minors but is concerned by the number of drinking parties attended by teens.
"It may be the beginning of a trend," he says. "Not only is it illegal but it also goes hand in hand with drunken driving."
He also says he would like to revisit old programs the department used to partake in, such as going to driver's ed classes and talking about the ramifications of and penalties for driving drunk or driving recklessly.
Jennifer Ceynowa, who is the community services coordinator for American Medical Response, says she responds to two to three DUI calls a week in Santa Clara County.
Ceynowa gave some alarming statistics. From the first ceremony, which took place at approximately 10 a.m., to the second day of the ceremony, 48 people in the United States died because of a drunken drivingrelated incident. Out of that 48, 16 were teenagers. Forty-eight is an increase of 2 percent over the last two years.
"Reckless driving is on the rise," she says. "This needs to stop."
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Photograph by George Sakkestad
Saratoga High School students Annie McAllister and Beeta Duriaie comfort one another at the end of the Every 15 Minutes ceremony.
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Ceynowa, who has participated in the Every 15 Minute program for three years, says she sees improvements in students' behavior as a result. In addition to students being less likely to drive drunk, she says, students are more likely to watch how much alcohol their friends consume, talk to their parents about drinking and call for a ride home.
"The program reinforces my convictions about making good decisions," says Jill Van Hoesen, who constantly reminds her son to "walk away from uncomfortable situations" and to "not get caught up in the hype."
Greg, who will be attending UC-Berkeley next year, says he will definitely remember this experience as he goes on to college.
"Take this to heart," he says. "Make smart decisions."
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Photograph by George Sakkestad