Through the “Shattered Dreams” project scheduled Saturday and Sunday, May 15 and 16 at Kapa‘a High School, educators plan to use symbolism and theatrical drama to motivate high-school seniors and juniors not to drink and drive. The program promotes responsible
Through the “Shattered Dreams” project scheduled Saturday and Sunday, May 15 and 16 at Kapa‘a High School, educators plan to use symbolism and theatrical drama to motivate high-school seniors and juniors not to drink and drive.
The program promotes responsible decision-making by students, and shows how irresponsibility can shatter future lives, according to Laura M. Lott, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health in Honolulu.
The DOH is supporting efforts to put together the two-day event.
In 2003, Kapa‘a High School became the first school in Hawai‘i to implement the project, through funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
This year’s two-day event consists of various activities:
- “Living Dead,” a symbolic skit that will be played out in the hallways of the school. Every 15 minutes, the Grim Reaper will walk through the hallways to the sound of a heartbeat played over the public-address system. After students leave class, a uniformed police officer will read a mock obituary to them, and will present mock notifications of their deaths to their classmates and parents. Some students will symbolize their death by having their faces painted white as they return to class;
- A mock auto-crash scene in front of the school. The skit will involve crashed cars and students strategically placed in automobiles. The intent is to show the possible outcome of drinking and driving. A fire-response team will arrive on the scene. The team will consist of police officers, American Medical Response medical personnel, firefighters, two truck drivers and a coroner;
- The transporting of victims to an hospital emergency room;
- An overnight retreat in which victims in the “Living Dead” and “mock crash” skits will share their experiences with counselors and write letters to their families with the theme of “my life has purpose;”
- A school assembly on the second day of the project.
The gathering will bring together a sharing of the lessons learned, the reading of a letter, and parents sharing their messages on the issue of drinking and driving.
The gathering will end with an emphasis on the result of such crashes: shattered dreams for those who drink and drive, victims and families.
The Kapa‘a High School program is patterned after a national one. A similar program is anticipated to be implemented at Kaua‘i High School.
For more information on the Kapa‘a High School program, please call Moana Ta‘a, 652-5600.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
