Revere High School held its Prom Promise Assembly for the juniors and seniors to encourage safe practices on prom night and remind students of the potential consequences of bad decisions.
The annual assembly took place on April 23. It alternates between two programs, the Think Fast program and a simulated crash. School Resource Officer (SRO) Scott Dressler works closely with the surrounding fire and police stations to coordinate a simulated crash in the high school parking lot. This demonstrates what the response would be to such an incident and what the damage would look like. Then the students had discussions with professionals in the medical or legal field that may deal with these situations. Before the assembly Dressler explained the order of events.
“A fire department and a medic will narrate it. It’ll be two cars that are set up already. They’ll come in, they’ll cut it open, show you what the process is and then after that we’ll have like a twenty-minute assembly of ER doctors and prosecutors telling the kids the risks of drinking and driving,” Dressler said.
Revere High School Principal Doug Faris noted that the alternating programs were implemented after some realized the old assembly was a bit too intense.
“We have been doing Prom Promise for a long time, it even goes back to before me. What they used to do was, they would have a mock crash and then a mock trial. So they would do a mock crash and then they would bring the kids in and they would have actors and it kind of was a lot. And then they would bring people in and put those people on trial for killing somebody as a result of drunk driving or driving impaired,” Faris said.
Next year, the juniors and seniors will see the Think Fast program, which is a free program through a grant from Summit County that sets up an interactive game to teach students about drunk driving. Dressler discovered the program when looking at other options for the assembly.
“The Think Fast program, they only do maybe five in the state of Ohio. They’re out of Michigan. So I was able to get in contact with them and built a good relationship with them. And they enjoy coming here every other year,” Dressler said.
Another aspect of the assembly is the inclusion of the younger grades coordinated by Bonnie Simonelli in the guidance office. According to Faris, each fifth grade student played a silent but impactful role by writing the seniors a letter asking them to stay safe. At the end of the assembly, Faris reiterated the points made by each demonstration and once again asked kids to be safe. Before the assembly Faris described what he planned to say to students.
“I’m basically just going to get up and beg and plead with every kid in the audience to be safe this weekend. Let’s have fun, let’s make great memories for the right reasons and let’s just be responsible. So that is the underlying message. It’s just all about prom weekend safety and we realize that many of you’re going to go to other proms like maybe in May at other schools, so we just want to reinforce that message,” Faris said.
In the past the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) hosted an after prom at The Workz but this year they decided not to because in recent years not many students have attended. Instead, they are putting the funds towards the new Senior Sunset event created by Revere High School Student Class Council. Class Council President Ria Mahapatra explained the thought behind the event.
“Class Council decided not to have an after prom this year because we discussed it with PTA and over the years, they kept seeing a decline in the number of people attending so we decided it wasn’t worth it to spend that much money on The Workz if barely any people showed up . . . . We wanted to find another thing to put our money towards, something that more seniors would come to. So that’s how I came upon the idea of doing a Senior Sunset since our sunrise kind of got ruined by the rain and I thought it would be a fun way to close out the year with everyone,” Mahapatra said.
Dressler sees firsthand how drunk driving can affect not only the driver, but also those involved in any accidents or connecting incidents. He believes students should just enjoy the night and not get caught up in any illegal activity.
“Prom is a once in a lifetime thing; you do not get to do your senior prom again. And you know, you guys are all going to be on college campuses or be twenty-one very soon. So just be a kid, be a kid for one more day, have fun. We don’t need to ruin your life or somebody else’s life with one silly little mistake,” Dressler said.
One difference the administration made this year was inviting the 11th and 12th grade parents to the assembly. Faris made this decision because he wanted parents to see the steps the administration took to promote student safety.
“[Safety is] what it comes down to. [Parents] want their kids to come home in one piece. As much as I want them to go home in one piece, there is no after prom this year. So there’s really no school or PTSA-supported event after prom, so kids will just kind of be free to do what they want. So the message is make sure you know where your kid’s at and make sure you know what is available at those locations. If they are going to somebody’s house and you know that person, great. If they’re saying that they’re going to go out to eat at 10:30 at night, great. But just know where your kid is at,” Faris said.
The annual assembly is held on the week of RHS’s prom in order to promote student safety and remind students of the dangers of drunk driving.
