On Tuesday, April 1, the biennial Every 15 Minutes Presentation took place in the West Parking Lot during third period, involving all senior and juniors seated in front of the heart-wrenching crash that supposedly took place moments before. As the day started, the announcements solemnly informed the school of the “deaths” of their very own Highlanders due to the horrors of drunk driving. Soon after that, those student’s who passed will enter their first period classrooms, looking as if they have risen from the dead, and will have someone share their eulogy, further making an impact to all of their classmates and friends. Then they will have placed a white flower on their desk, then on their way to participate in the presentation.
Moreover, when the presentation commenced, it started with the ambulance and a fire truck entering the scene. In one car were seniors Nate Garza and Austin Maina, who looked heavily injured due to the accident. In the other car, a tragedy truly occurred. Junior Lauren Lacy was sprawled open on the hood of her car, covered in blood, showing signs of death. Senior Luke Lacy, the driver who caused this incident in this portrayal, was taken out of the car and was given a test to prove to the police officer the depth of how drunk he may have been. As this presentation continued, every film student, dedicated in their work, filmed video and movie shots for the video presentation that would take place the next day.
A part of the film team and collaborative coordinator of Every 15 Minutes, junior Payton MacCuish shared, “All day I was asking them [students a part of Every 15 Minutes] if they were okay, just to make sure as it is an emotional time for everyone.” Soon, after his test, Lacy was issued a DUI, Driving Under Influence, and was sent away in a police car. His sister was then taken away in a white limo of Reardon, to the morgue. Garza and Maina were then taken to the ambulance, film team capturing every moment of this act.
While this took place, all the other students who had “passed” due to car accidents, in their zombie get-up, stood to the side and watched their peers act out this harsh car crash. Junior Emerson Moss, who had “died” coming out of volleyball practice shared, “Being in Every 15 Minutes was an experience I will never forget,” and further stated, “Even through the crash scene and walking dead were all staged, everything felt so real and I think really put things into perspective for everyone.”
