Reapers Bring Solemn Message To Prom Goers

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By GREG BROWN , Times-Union Staff Writer-

SOUTH WHITLEY - The bell tolls. Two gloomy, robed figures pass through the high school halls.

Another student is gone.

Whitko's Students Against Drunk Driving made a symbolic effort Friday to remind their peers not to drink and drive this weekend at the prom.

The grim reapers this period were played by Whitko juniors Jamie Brown and Patty Walters. Their victim was underclassman Jamie Engle.

Their features hidden with hoods, Brown and Walters made their way out of the choir room to Engle's class, ringing the death knell every few steps. In Engle's place they left a paper flower - a reminder of the drunk-driving tragedies that claim so many lives.

Every 32 minutes (how often a life is claimed by a drunk driver) a student was snatched from a class. They were brought back out for display in the morgue (cafeteria) at the end of the day.

As Whitko students filed out at the end of the day they passed their friends lying, toe tags attached, covered with sheets.

The message: Stay safe, stay sober, and don't drink and drive.

The day was organized by Whitko's SADD coordinator, Patty Weybright, to promote awareness for the prom and graduation.

Weybright said the Day of the Dead simulation prompted many discussions about the dangers of drinking and driving. [[In-content Ad]]

SOUTH WHITLEY - The bell tolls. Two gloomy, robed figures pass through the high school halls.

Another student is gone.

Whitko's Students Against Drunk Driving made a symbolic effort Friday to remind their peers not to drink and drive this weekend at the prom.

The grim reapers this period were played by Whitko juniors Jamie Brown and Patty Walters. Their victim was underclassman Jamie Engle.

Their features hidden with hoods, Brown and Walters made their way out of the choir room to Engle's class, ringing the death knell every few steps. In Engle's place they left a paper flower - a reminder of the drunk-driving tragedies that claim so many lives.

Every 32 minutes (how often a life is claimed by a drunk driver) a student was snatched from a class. They were brought back out for display in the morgue (cafeteria) at the end of the day.

As Whitko students filed out at the end of the day they passed their friends lying, toe tags attached, covered with sheets.

The message: Stay safe, stay sober, and don't drink and drive.

The day was organized by Whitko's SADD coordinator, Patty Weybright, to promote awareness for the prom and graduation.

Weybright said the Day of the Dead simulation prompted many discussions about the dangers of drinking and driving. [[In-content Ad]]

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