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Girl Scout sets up mock accident to dramatize drinking and driving
May 20, 2009 -- Green Mountain High School junior Amanda E. kept her focus as her friends were covered in fake blood and West Metro Fire officials and Lakewood Police officers asked for her direction on May 12 in the high school’s parking lot. She watched in awe as Flight for Life landed on the football field.
After all the months of planning, the April cancellation due to a snowstorm and the frenzied pace of pulling off a huge mock accident scene, Amanda finally had a chance to reflect on the work she’d put into her Gold Award project and the impact she’s made on her community.
“Well, I thought the day went a lot better than I thought it would,” she said. “I think it impacted the kids a little more to have Flight for Life land not 200 meters away from them.” She also credited her actors and the dramatic script for making a big impact.
On May 12, Amanda orchestrated a mock drunk driving accident complete with a fatality loaded into the coroner’s truck, a drunk driving arrest, a Flight for Life helicopter’s arrival for a critical patient and the Lakewood Police and West Metro Fire on scene. The purpose was to raise awareness of the consequences of the choice to drink and drive. The school’s graduation was May 22 and Amanda timed the rescheduled mock accident to coincide with the ramping up of graduation-related parties. The faces of students watching on the grassy hillside, showed the dramatic mock accident made an impression.
“I have been getting compliments from random kids at my school saying, ‘Hey- you're the girl that put together the mock accident- great job! I really liked it!" or something along those lines, it has been wonderful the responses I've been getting,” she said.
In April, Amanda arranged a week of drinking and driving awareness events leading up to the April 18 prom. The mock accident was originally planned to be the culmination of that week but a strong spring snowstorm cancelled those plans.
Amanda didn’t let Mother Nature get in the way and continued her program and extended the mock accident to May, getting to double the impact.
“We have a few things that we can do better, but I always have next year,” she said.
Amanda is a candidate to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award in 2010. The Gold Award is the highest honor a girl can achieve in Girl Scouting. The completion of the Gold Award is achieved through meeting exacting requirements, including serving 30 hours in a leadership role, completing 40 hours of career-oriented work and completion of the 4B challenge (Become yourself, Belong to your community, Believe in your vision to change your community and Build a vision for change.)