“Every 15 Minutes” Program Makes Impact at Cabrillo High School

Cabrillo High School concluded its powerful two-day “Every 15 Minutes” program on Wednesday bringing a stark reminder to its students about the dangers of teen drinking and driving.

The program, developed to prevent risky behavior among teenagers, was hosted by the school in partnership with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and supported by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Aimed at the school’s juniors and seniors, “Every 15 Minutes” challenges participants to think critically about personal safety, the serious responsibility of making mature decisions, and the potential far-reaching impacts of their choices on family, friends, and the broader community.

The program derives its name from the statistic that every 15 minutes someone in the United States is killed in an alcohol-related traffic crash. To drive this point home, volunteer students representing the “living dead” were taken from classrooms at 15-minute intervals on the first day of the program to symbolize the ongoing toll of DUI collisions.

Highlighting the consequences of impaired driving, the students witnessed a jarringly realistic demonstration featuring a wrecked vehicle placed on campus. The scene played out with emergency crews enacting the extraction of the “victims” from the mangled car, effectively simulating the aftermath of a fatal DUI collision.

Those same student volunteers spent the night at an off-site retreat where they heard from individuals directly affected by incidents involving alcohol. They were also tasked with writing letters to their loved ones, expressing what they might say if they had truly been fatalities of such a needless tragedy.

The program culminated with an assembly in the Cabrillo High School Auditorium. Here, the emotional weight of the previous day’s simulation, combined with personal stories and the “goodbye” letters from the student volunteers, brought the message of “Every 15 Minutes” into poignant clarity.

This intense experiential learning event was the result of months of meticulous planning involving a coalition of school officials, law enforcement officers, firefighters, medical professionals, chaplains, counselors, judiciary members, community groups, local businesses, and parents.

Through such stark dramatization, Cabrillo High School looks to the future, hopeful that its students will carry the program’s lessons with them, making choices that guarantee a safer, happier community for all.