Directions Volume 32, Issue 3
April 29, 2010
Knox High School
Videos Intended as Sobering Reminder by Becca Hardel
In recent years, Starke County Emergency Responders have teamed up with SADD sponsor Mrs. Cecilia Christensen to demonstrate a mock car crash scene. The simulation was an engaging way to help students recognize the dangers of drinking and driving. But this year police officer Dave Combs and assistant principal Mr. Bendicsen wanted to switch things up. They decided to show real life videos of actual car crashes before the upcoming four-day prom weekend. Although the videos aren't intended to scare people, Chief of Police Clint Norem said he thinks the videos will help students see the hard reality and consequences of drinking and driving. Rather than show a mock accident that students know isn’t really real, the videos are meant to demonstrate the more realistic dangers of drinking and driving. Statistically, alcohol is the number-one youth drug problem. It kills more people under age 21 than all other illegal drugs combined. Alcohol-related car crashes kill a person every 45 minutes and injure a person every two minutes. In the United States, drunk driving is the leading criminal cause of death, and alcohol is the cause of 60 percent of all teenage deaths in car accidents. Teenage males account for 80 percent of drivers involved in fatal drunk driving accidents. Seventy percent of teens killed on prom weekends were not wearing seatbelts.
A serious car crash brings home the importance of handing over the keys for those who have been drinking. Chief Norem also offered teenagers some pieces of advice for this prom weekend. “Have fun and be smart,” he advised. “Teenagers think that cops are grumpy and hard core. We just want teenagers to be safe and have fun. I don't advocate teenage drinking of alcohol, but if they are to drink, don't drive or play in the street.”
Student Falls for More than a Prince in Cinderella by Brittany Rowe
It is spring again, and for students participating in school musicals, springtime means practicing lines and learning new dance moves. This year is no exception, although the Knox High School Cinderella cast has certainly needed to do some fancy footwork to adjust to a minor catastrophe in early April. During a Saturday rehearsal, the stage crew was practicing lighting effects for the pumpkin-into-carriage transformation scene, and nearly all the lights were off. With all eyes skyward and focused on the lighting, a few actors took a step forward for a closer look. But junior Mandy Frazier, who plays the role of Grace the evil stepsister, ended up getting a closer look at the orchestra pit when she took one step too many and fell seven feet into
blackness and the pit. Even though the pit was lined in red lights to alert actors to its presence, with her head upturned, Frazier missed the warning lights. “The auditorium was black, the stage was black, and the pit was black, and I fell right into it,” said Frazier. Unfortunately, Mandy Fraizer in make- the fall did not up before Cinderella. leave Frazier
unscathed. She sustained three borderline fractures in her back. “I ended up landing on my feet, but then I fell backwards on my butt, which caused the impact on my back,” she explained. The injury was not only painful for Frazier, but the rest of the cast and crew felt the pain as well: Opening day was set for five days after the fall. Tension was high over the weekend and Monday and Tuesday as the cast and director Ms. Terrill Hahn awaited the prognosis on Frazier’s recovery. With good luck, she would still be able to perform her role; bad luck would mean a new actor would have to step in and take her place. see “Frazier”, p. 4