Every 15 minutes

WASILLA — “On April 10th at 11:50 hours, Wasilla Police Department responded to a collision in the parking of Wasilla High School,” is what Wasilla Police Department (WPD) would say in a press release in the event of a real collision.

About 16 Wasilla High School (WHS) teens participated in the “Every 15 Minutes” DUI simulation program — the first ever in the Mat-Su Valley. Everything — deaths and incarcerations included — were all just a controlled simulation to show students the actual dangers and consequences of drinking and driving.

“Every 15 Minutes is a two-day program that challenges high school students to think about the consequences of drinking, personal safety, and the responsibility of making mature decisions when lives are involved,” said WPD information officer, Amanda Graham.

Every 15 Minutes is a two-day program that took participating students out of class, every 15 minutes to hearken to the national statistic of someone dying from a DUI every 15 minutes — outside to the parking lot. The students were escorted by the Grim Reaper, a volunteer garbed in a shadowy robe, wielding a scythe. Two vehicles provided to simulate an actual crash and the students were made up with special effects to appear as the “walking dead,” not allowed to communicate with anyone besides the other participants and chaperones as they spend a whole night away from their family and friends. No cell phones, social media or other outside contact will be allowed as these students work on their obituaries. They will not see their parents until the following day at the WHS mock memorial.

“The program seeks to provide students with a hard-hitting, realistic dramatization of the aftermath of a fatal alcohol-related car crash,” Graham said.

Each student goes went through all the mock motions one would face if they died or survived a DUI, from the intake to court or grave. Graham said this scenario is intended to solidify with the students by giving them a real taste of the loss DUI leaves, their students absent and unable to text them back, just as if they were dead or in jail.

Wasilla Police Department’s, Jeff Sheveland is the resource officer for WHS. Sheveland spearheaded the Mat-Su Valley’s adaptation of the national program. Places like Anchorage and Chugiak have already run their own versions of the program for some time. Sheveland took notes from those places as he coordinated the Wasilla take on ‘Every 15 Minutes’, incorporating WPD, the fire department, emergency medical technicians, the Division of Juvenile Justice; as well as other community entities such as Matanuska Towing & Recovery, Jansen’s Funeral home — essentially all the pieces of the process in the event of an actual collision.

“My hope is that this program will help foster communication between the local media and WPD, as well as drive home the real life consequences of drinking and driving,” Graham said.

As part of this simulation, Graham hosted an on-camera press briefing to detail the collision and response, as well as the program. WPD treated this simulation as they would in the wake of an actual event. Graham and Sheveland vouched for the power of this program, both hoping other schools in the district will follow suit. Palmer High School is likely to be next on the list since they are in the process of getting their own resource officer, according to Graham. Sheveland started at WHS last August and he said this program reflects his three part mission: law enforcement, counseling and teaching, like the schools’ “big brother, father or teacher.”

“Bottom line: it’s all about school safety,” Sheveland said.