These students,

who were identified ahead of time and their parents had given permission

for their participation, were taken to a room where they were dressed

in black and their faces painted white. For the rest of the day they attended

their regular classroom schedules as ghosts. They could not participate

in activities, talk or make any type of facial contact with anyone. In

all, 18 students were tagged as ghosts, representing the number of teenagers

who could have potentially died during the course of the school day.

At the end

of the day, the entire student body was taken to the school's stadium

where, unbeknownst to them, they were to be exposed to a realistic reenactment

of an accident. As students entered the stadium, they saw a tarp lying

over a large lump on the track around the football field. Then, a 911

call was placed over the intercom. The tarp was removed and police, EMTs

(emergency medical technicians), firefighters and the coroner arrived

on the scene.

"Everything

was extremely realistic. We brought in a wrecked car and two of our students

were made up to look as if they've been in an accident," said Dan

Smith, a business education teacher and coordinator of Ghost Out Day at

Sandy Creek.

Students received

a play by play description in real time of how the wreck occurred and

the bodily injuries sustained by each of the two victims as the car crashed

to a deadly halt. The end result was one teenager dead and the other in

critical condition.

Over the intercom

the students heard the dead victim talk about how she and her boyfriend

had been drinking and having fun. She recounted watching her parents identify

her body and watching her own funeral. She shouted pleas for help and

talked about all of the plans and dreams she had had for the future.

Due to the

graphic nature of the reenactment as well as the seriousness of the day,

extra counselors were on hand at the school to talk to students who were

emotionally overcome from what they had witnessed. The sobs of many students

could be heard throughout the stadium as the reenactment unfolded.

Perhaps even

more emotionally moving than the reenactment was a speech made by a faculty

member of Sandy Creek. On Oct. 23, 1998, Rick Francis, head basketball

coach at Sandy Creek, lost his son, Richard, in a car accident on Sams

Road. Francis' son and two other Sandy Creek students were on Sams Road

when the car they were riding in took a turn too fast and crashed.

The car immediately

burst into flames killing all three passengers. Although his son was not

at the wheel, Francis pleaded to students to pay attention to the messages

of the Ghost Out program.

"I remember

the last time we did Ghost Out. My son was sitting right up there in that

section of the bleachers," Francis pointed from the field where he

was speaking. "There was laughter coming from that direction and

the kids were playing around and not paying attention. I made eye contact

with my son so that he would know the seriousness of what we were doing

here. He looked at me and shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'It wasn't

me dad.'"

This grim message

was intentionally delivered to students just one week before the prom.

William Haynes, a senior and student participant of Achievers International,

played an active part in the program as one of the ghosts. This was Haynes'

second time seeing the program at Sandy Creek as it was for many other

seniors who had attended the school since their freshmen year.

"It was

difficult going through this again. The last time we did this, that next

fall, was when Coach Francis' son died. I got emotional during the program

because I learned some things about his son's death that I had not known.

It really touched me personally," Haynes recalled immediately after

the event.

Although graphic

and emotionally disturbing, school officials say they hope that the message

of responsible driving hit home with students especially during this time

of the year when teenagers often like to celebrate milestones such as

prom and graduation.

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