CHS mock car crash about “making good choices”

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  The message was “making good choices.”

The scene was a mock car crash.

The actors were Colfax High School students, Colfax Police Chief William Anderson, Colfax Police Officer Josh Shipman, Colfax Rescue Squad Director Don Knutson, Colfax EMTs, Colfax Fire Chief Don Logslett, Colfax Community Fire Department firefighters and representatives from Sampson Funeral Home.

“I would be downplaying it if I said it was outstanding,” said John Dachel, Colfax High School principal, at the Colfax Board of Education’s April 23 meeting.

Dachel presented a slide show of the mock car crash for members of the school board.

“Some kids were crying at the end,” Dachel said.

“It was unbelievable,” said William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator.

The gymnasium was filled with students, and “you could have heard a pin drop” the entire hour, he said.

The students “were all engaged. The kids did an outstanding job in role playing,” Yingst said, adding, “I know it was a success.”

The mock car crash was held April 18, ahead of the Colfax High School junior prom on April 21.

Before the mock car crash, 150 students were signed up for the Colfax After Prom Party.

After the mock crash crash, another 40 students signed up for the party, for a total of 190 students, Yingst said, noting 190 is the highest number of students to ever sign up for the After Prom Party.

Colfax High School has a population of between 260 and 270 students, he said.

“To have three-fourths of them attending (the After Prom Party) is amazing,” Yingst said.

Students who participated in the car crash were Hailey Durand-Christianson, Becca Lee, Emily Evenson, Jacob Jensen and Adam Pretasky.

Becca Lee spent most of the presentation on the gym floor, face down and presumably thrown out of the “car” (five chairs put together), while Hailey Durand-Christianson, Emily Evenson and Jacob Jensen sat motionless in the car, blood running down their faces, either unconscious or dead.

Adam Pretasky, who had a black eye, was the driver of the car and was able to walk around the scene of the accident.

The young ladies were dressed in their prom formals, and the young men were dressed in suits and ties.

The EMTs tended to the dead and injured. The firefighters worked to get the victims out of the car. And the police chief and his officer questioned the driver and administered a field sobriety test to determine  whether he was under the influence at the time of the accident.

Eventually, the driver was handcuffed and taken away.

And Becca Lee was zipped into a body bag.

And Hailey Durand-Christianson, Emily Evenson and Jacob Jensen were strapped onto back boards.

The sound of the zipper being drawn up on the body bag made it all very real and was almost too much for Becca, who said later she was not certain she would make it out to the lobby, Dachel told the school board.

Originally, the mock car crash was planned to be held outdoors, using a car the firefighters could cut apart with the Jaws of Life and the Mayo helicopter landing at the scene, Dachel said.

Unfortunately, winter-like weather that caused snow to still be on the ground heading into the third week in April made it impossible to hold the event outside, he said.

“I think the kids took it seriously,” Dachel said.

Dachel and Yingst agreed the mock car crash was well worth the effort and both of them expressed their appreciation for the participation of the EMTs, firefighters, police officers and Dan Duffenbach and Dana Zwiefelhofer from Sampson Funeral Home.