Lemoore High School students earn valuable lesson about drinking and driving

Monday, May 4, 2015 - 5:47pm By Ed Martin, The Leader Editor

Every two years, the junior and seniors classes at Lemoore High School received a valuable lesson about drinking and driving. School officials, teachers and students came together Thursday and Friday at the high school to put on the sobering program entitled “Every 15 Minutes.”

The title signifies that every 15 minutes, somewhere in the United States, a teenager dies after drinking alcohol. The California Highway Patrol sponsors the bi-annual event at Lemoore High School with a $10,000 grant.

About 30 students, all nominated by their teachers, came together Thursday, donned makeup as either crash victims or the walking dead, and then braved 90-degree heat to put on a valuable lesson about drunk driving.

Only juniors and seniors are invited to the two-day program. The second day consists of an assembly, featuring a memorial for the two persons killed by the preceding day’s drunk driver and a trial. This year, a teacher, Megan Rix, volunteered to serve as one of the victims.

Kings County Superior Court Judge Shane Burns was on hand to help try make-believe drunk driver Haley Lovelace while Kings County District Attorney Keith Fagundes did his chore as prosecutor and Deputy DA Jason Rifkin served as defense attorney.