A year ago, sirens screamed through the streets behind Morinville Community High School (MCHS). Police, paramedics, and firefighters arrived at the scene of a two-vehicle collision that claimed the life of one teenager, sent another to the hospital and saw a third charged with impaired driving. Then everyone took off the theatrical makeup and went back to class.
With graduation ceremonies scheduled for Friday, MCHS decided to take the important message of the consequences of drinking and driving to graphic levels once again this year. Unfortunately, Wednesday’s rain cancelled that event, or at least the outdoor portion of it. Graduates did still get to hear the message on impaired driving from the scheduled speaker in the gym.
Police have told us at past events there are no local statistics on what effect mock collisions have on student behaviour, but students we’ve interviewed over the years say the event has had an impact on them.
With promising futures on the road ahead for our MCHS Grads, we hope Wednesday’s message struck home and stays with them.
We also hope community resources, including police, peace officers, fire department and paramedics will continue to partner to deliver the important message to future graduates.
