Tiffany Revelle and Courtney Haskett — Record-Bee staff writers
KELSEYVILLE ? A loud bang penetrated the ears of Kelseyville High School students and numerous bystanders at noon on Tuesday. It was followed by the sounds of ambulances and a sight that won”t soon be forgotten.
“Oh my God, she”s dead!” student Brianna Vargas screamed as she gazed in horror at the lifeless body of her longtime friend and classmate, Kaitlyn Goff.
The head-on crash occurred on Main Street and Douglas Road, in front of Kelseyville High School. The entire student body gathered on the field in front of the high school, and many others stood shocked watching the staged accident from a distance.
Agencies including the California Highway Patrol (CHP), Kelseyville Fire Department, Lake County Sheriff”s Office and numerous volunteers coordinated the event and staged the accident scene.
Principal Matt Cockerton told an audience of students that the accident killed driver Monique Santana, who left the scene in a REACH helicopter. Goff, a passenger, died on impact. Vargas, another passenger, left in an ambulance with minor injuries.
Cockerton said Cody Nelson, the other driver, suffered minor injuries and was arrested on charges of DUI and vehicular manslaughter. His passenger, Steven Grossner, suffered major injuries and was in critical condition at a nearby hospital.
The gruesome scene was the culminating event in the “Every 15 Minutes” event held at the high school. The program, held every four years at high schools throughout the county, was designed to bring awareness to the statistic that someone dies every 15 minutes in an alcohol-related crash.
According to www.every15minutes.com, the program”s mission is “to prevent impaired driving tragedies and to save lives by building and supporting a national network of organizations with similar missions ? and to provide students with the best prevention and intervention tools possible to deal with making mature decisions while creating meaningful family dialogue.”
Every 15 minutes, students in every classroom heard the sounds of a heartbeat going flat over the intercom as somewhere on campus, another student “died.”
Faces were solemn as the grim reaper walked from classroom to classroom, calling the students” names and leading them out of the classroom as “casualties” of alcohol-related crashes.
Tears were shed as a law enforcement officers read the students” made-up obituaries and placed black carnations on the empty desks. The grim reaper took 16 students by the end of the day.
Head chaplain for the event and Kelseyville Presbyterian Church pastor Steve Nesheim said by 9:30 a.m. he had visited two students” homes to announce their “deaths” to their parents. He said even though the parents knew in advance that their children were part of the staged event, the reactions were no less emotional.
“One ? she was in tears, because we take it very seriously. The other parents kept looking at us to see, now, this is not real, is it?” Nesheim said. “They know about the seriousness, that this could happen to their child.”
CHP officer Adam Garcia said the program is time-consuming and expensive, costing approximately $12,000 per event. He said the CHP raises money for the program and is reimbursed, with any leftover money going to the Sober-Grad program. Funding also comes from the state Office of Traffic Safety.
“If it opens even one student”s eyes, it is worth the money and preparation,” teacher Debra Ingalls said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37. Contact Courtney Haskett at courtneyhas@hotmail.com.
