New twist for drunken-driving message at Grayslake Central

Grayslake Central High School has come up with a new way to deliver an annual pre-prom message to upperclassmen about the dangers of drinking alcohol and driving.

Student actors, makeup artists and production assistants worked Monday on a video that'll be presented in an assembly before next spring's prom. Volunteer professionals from Team Yellow Media ran the show and will create the video.

Grayslake Central is veering from the prom-night crash re-enactments that typically are viewed by students at a football field. The teenagers see the aftermath of drunken driving for their classmates, such as death and criminal charges.

Roslyn Lessem, student assistance program coordinator at Grayslake Central, said she believes the same message will be more powerful in the professionally produced video expected to run 10 minutes or so.

“When you do it live, first of all, logistically getting 700 students outside from inside is a challenge,” Lessem said. “Also, you really can't control what students are looking at. There's so many things happening at once. The students can be looking at a bird in the tree for all we know.”

At Monday's shoot near Grayslake Central's football field, the premise was some high school students were in a head-on crash on prom night. Grayslake police and fire vehicles, as well as a Lake County coroner's van, were part of the production.

Senior Hannah Risinger, 17, played the role of a passenger dying in her prom dress in the DUI crash. She was made up with blood, bruises and cuts.

Risinger, a member of Students Against Drunk Driving, said she expects the video to be more realistic for her peers than the football field re-enactment.

“I know they've already done some head shots of me just lying there,” Risinger said, “so I think that's going to have a greater impact than say being 20 feet away in the bleachers.”

Lessem said the idea for Monday's shoot arose after an outdoor re-enactment was canceled because of rain last year at Grayslake North High School. She said amateur video of the rehearsal was shown to the students inside.

After some discussion between a school resource police officer, teachers and others, Lessem said, it was agreed that video with Grayslake High pupils could be worth incorporating into a program about the dangers of drinking and driving.