'Prom Promise' to Teach Dire Consequences of Drunk Driving

Nearly 500 seniors at Stow-Munroe Falls High School will learn the dire consequences of drinking and driving on the eve of prom night.

Friday the school will host its annual Prom Promise, a program spread over the course of the morning meant to show students the potentially deadly and life-altering consequences of mixing alcohol into year-end celebrations.

Lisa Heilmeier, a social studies teacher at the high school and event organizer, said the annual event starts with a mock car crash, followed by a choreographed funeral for a crash victim and then a staged criminal trial for the driver.

"The reason is just to make students aware of drinking and driving and that it is a problem," she said. "Obviously we want to prevent any drinking and driving accidents, but if we can prevent just one."

Nearly one-third of all deaths in traffic crashes in 2010 were alcohol related, according to the Centers for Disease Control. A total 10,228 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes that year.

Young people are most at risk, according to the CDC.

The mock events in Stow are followed this year by two speakers. Marc Streem will speak about the death of his son in an alcohol-related crash in 2001. And this year the school added a new speaker, Joe DiLullo, who will talk about the traumatic brain injury he sustained in an alcohol-related accident.

"So we have two different perspectives," Heilmeier said. "The perspective of the victim himself and the perspective of family members left behind."

The event starts at 9 a.m. Friday and is followed by the senior picnic. Stow's Prom is set for Saturday.