Beyer High pulls out of 'Every 15 Minutes' presentation, leaving CHP frustrated

Beyer High School has pulled out of presenting the Every 15 Minutes DUI-awareness program this school year, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The two-day program, which includes graphic crash-scene re-enactments and students painted with death faces to represent lives lost, was to have been on campus March 22-23, said CHP Modesto-area office spokesman Officer Thomas Olsen.

Some schools in Stanislaus County present the program just every four years, some every other year, Olsen said. Beyer last did it in the 2015-16 school year. Its former Every 15 Minutes coordinator contacted him in May about presenting it this school year, Olsen said, and he met with the new coordinator this past fall.

A second planning meeting was held that also included representatives from American Medical Response and the Modesto Fire Department, along with those who'd be doing audio and video production.

A major component of Every 15 Minutes presentations is an assembly in which a video shows participating families being notified of students' "deaths" and making visits to hospitals, morgues and — for parents of students playing the drunk drivers — jail.

Another meeting was to have been held Thursday, Olsen said, but he got a call from Beyer that it was pulling the plug. Olsen said he was told the cancellation has to do with recent staffing vacancies and shortage of support staff to do legwork. "I'm frustrated because there's not any real cost to the school, it's largely grant funded," he said.

There is a good amount of work a school has to put in, he said, such as getting some sponsorships that supplement the grant, and seeking donations of food for the participating students.

Olsen noted that the new coordinator "was given the program in a binder and told to run with it. It's a lot to learn. The goal is to put on a great program."

Beyer Principal Dan Park said the school traditionally hosts “Every 15 Minutes” every other year. Only juniors and seniors participate, but over their four years of high school, all students "have the opportunity to participate in this highly impactful program."

Beyer intended to host this year, but "staffing changes and a full calendar" prevented it.

It's pretty late in the school year to try to shift the presentation to another school, Olsen said. "The grant cycle starts in October (but) if somebody put in a grant application right away. ... I don't know."

The CHP spokesman said his own child will attend Beyer, and he hopes the program returns to the north Modesto school. Park said it will, next year.

A Beyer student was a passenger in a car whose 16-year-old driver faces charges in a DUI crash that killed a mother and daughter on Tully Road in November. That's all the more reason "we need to do this," Olsen said. "We need to be proactive about educating the students on the dangers of drunk driving."

The CHP does two primary things to stop DUI and save lives, Olsen said: enforcement and education. On the education side, Every 15 Minutes "is by far and away the best program the CHP does, in my opinion. It's a life-changing experience students and their families will remember all their lives."

He said he's heard from people who participated in the program seven or eight years ago and still attest to how powerful it was.

When Gregori High put on its first Every 15 Minutes program in 2013, then-senior Brielle Henderson, who was playing a victim, said the power of the presentation struck her when she walked out to Pirrone Road, where patrol cars, fire engines, ambulances and other emergency response vehicles were gathered at the mock crash site.

"It's very emotional, but I feel good that I will tell a lesson to the whole senior class. I hope they get the message and that I portray it well," she said while made up to look like she was injured all over, including glass shards protruding from her face. She added, "I'm already crying, and (staying in character) I'm paralyzed, so I can't dry my tears."

This story was originally published January 19, 2018 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Beyer High pulls out of 'Every 15 Minutes' presentation, leaving CHP frustrated."