Ghost Out Program Provides Consequential Message

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By Madeleine Wilson, Reporter

Every year, the day before prom, students create a visual message for the juniors and seniors to not drink and drive after prom. They alternate every other year with the example of the mock crash and the ghost out. This year, is the ghost out message. Many of the drama kids take part in it with STLP members who film it.

One of the parts of the day is having a coffin in the lobby of the school. This represented a student who could die if irresponsible at prom. Another message was having the grim reaper come into different classes and taking one student away. Once out of the classroom, a police officer read a little speech about how this represented how a many teenagers die daily from reckless driving. Also the grim reaper would roam the hallways when the students would switch classes.

The actual assembly for all juniors and seniors was during 4th block. First Abbi Woodcock stood up infront of everyone and read a poem that explained a story of a girl who got hit by a drunk driver. After she was finished, Mrs. Harkins stood up and began to explain about her son who just in the past 2 years had been hit by a drunk driver. She told us that he was just driving home on a normal day at night and why turning got hit. She pleaded the need to always do safe drinking and to never drive if you could be even a little drunk.
Another person named Maggie Matthews read another poem related to safe driving after Mrs. Harkins touching story. To end the train of speeches, Marlena Stokes explained the story of how her mother and unborn brother died in a car crash because of a drunk driver. They were coming back from their Florida vacation, almost to the Kentucky border late at night, when a car came driving the opposite way towards their car and hit the driver, who was her mom, head on. Her brother was 8 months old and was so close to being born. Lucky Marlena, at two years old, and her father survived the crash but she still wonders how different things could be if the accident had never occurred.

They cleared the gym and students came out from the back of the gym walking behind the coffin with candles in their hands. They ended up in a line in front of the juniors and seniors. A man was standing at the microphone who read the obituaries of students standing. Once their story was read, the person was touched by the grim reaper and laid on the ground to represent that they were dead with a white sheet put over them. The last student, although, said no to the Grim Reaper and represented someone who said no to driving while drunk and survived. Jannah Bolin then sang the song Amazing Grace to end the Ghost Out. No one was reported in an accident the night of prom so if this message helped or not, everyone came to school back safe and sound.