Jacobs prom drama drives home safety lesson

On Monday, April 27, Jacobs High School in Algonquin will be presenting the 2009 Operation Prom Night program to stress the importance of not drinking and driving and provide a stark reminder of what can happen when students do. Weather permitting, juniors and seniors will gather at 9:45 a.m. at the Jacobs' football field, 2601 Bunker Hill Drive, for a presentation that replicates the aftermath of a head-on drunken driving crash from impact through emergency response. The Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Department will be on hand to extricate car crash victims from the vehicles and transfer them to the waiting ambulance, Flight for Life helicopter and unfortunately, the coroner's van also.

The high school Prom Night committee, headed by Algonquin Police Officer Dennis Walker, has been working on the presentation for the last several months to make sure the program goes off without a hitch. Officer Walker said, "these students really believe in this presentation and the message it sends to fellow students to be safe while at prom?"

Students will see firsthand the results of a crash caused by a drunken driver in an effort to encourage teens to avoid alcohol on prom night and throughout the year. Each year, many high school students are involved in debilitating, if not deadly, car crashes. Add to that the many distractions that young drivers are confronted with today that did not exist a few years ago such as cell phones, iPods, and text messaging before you even add in the drinking and driving factors. This somber event puts the reality into the students decision about drinking and driving.

This dramatization is designed to drive home a message that must be heeded by all. "We want high school students to be aware of what can happen when they drink then drive, don't wear their seat belts, talk on their cell phones or text while driving," stated Lt. Julie Didier of the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Department.