May 6, 2003
 |
| Cpl. W.R. Richardson
of the Gwinnett County Police Department, in
the stands with students of Norcross High
School as they got ready to watch the
powerful “Ghost Out 2003.” |
The Norcross High
School Prom was the very next night. “Ghost Out
2003,” in which a fatal DUI automobile accident
was staged on the school’s football field,
complete with student actors covered with gory
makeup, crashed cars, law enforcement and rescue
personnel, sirens and flashing lights, ambulances,
and even the arrival of a life flight helicopter.
The Gwinnett County District Attorney, Danny
Porter, was also present as part of the script.
Students watched the unfolding scenario
with trance-like attention. Unless they had seen a
“Ghost Out” before, surely it was the first time
they had seen firefighters use the jaws of life to
open crushed car doors or cut off the roof of a car
in order to remove broken bodies. Surely it was the
first time they had seen anybody zipped into a body
bag.
When D.A. Danny Porter stepped out of
the scenario and took the microphone to sternly tell
the students that he has been going to crashes like
this for twenty years, every eye in the place was
focused on him. He told the students that one bad
decision to drink or use drugs and drive while
impaired has the terrible capacity to change their
life and the lives of others forever. Forever. His
message was burned onto their brains.
This “Ghost Out 2003” included
another very poignant message that was written by
23-year old Jayme Webb, a 1997 graduate of
Norcross High School, who noted that it was Day 289
of her incarceration. She was charged with vehicular
homicide and was sentenced to ten years in prison
and will have to serve three.
From her message: “On October 28,
2001, I killed a man. Right now I am sitting on my
metal bunk bed writing you this from Pulaski State
Prison. The man’s name was Mr. Willie King. He was
the father of two and I just so happened to kill him
on the night of his 53rd birthday. You
see, I had thought I was ‘okay’ to drive home. I
can very honestly say it was the worst decision of
my life…I was a pretty typical teenager. I can
even remember those assemblies right before prom
about ‘the dangers of drinking and driving. I paid
some attention to them, but you see ‘that was
never going to happen to me.’ Just like every one
of you is saying now…Please listen when I say—It
can happen to you! If I could, I’d take back all
those ‘fun’ times I thought I was having when I
drank.”
“It Won’t Happen to Me”
is the title of a very special memorial booklet that
features teens who have died on Gwinnett County
roads. In late 2000 Cpl. W.R. Richardson of
the Gwinnett County Police Department was contacted
by a recent graduate of Parkview High School, Ashley
Adkins, who was upset by the recent funeral of a
friend who had died in a motor vehicle accident. She
asked Cpl. Richardson what could be done to help
curb the senseless deaths of teenagers on the roads.
This booklet is the result. The first edition of
10,000 copies was printed by Georgia Power and some
of their affiliates, and handed out in Gwinnett
County high schools.
The second edition of the
booklet, which includes four additional teenagers,
has now been printed and funded by the Gwinnett
County Police Department. Seventeen thousand copies
are now being distributed through the schools and
the various traffic courts in Gwinnett.
As Cpl. Richardson is starting on the
third edition of “It Won’t Happen to Me,” with
27,000 copies, the number of teen fatalities in
Gwinnett has increased to over 100. The message is
clear: It
CAN happen to anyone! It is imperative that our
inexperienced teen drivers have a chance to read
through this sobering and impressive booklet.
To obtain a copy of “It Won’t
Happen to Me,” please call Cpl. Richardson at
(770) 982-4440, ext. 35, or e-mail Richarbi@co.gwinnett.ga.us.
Putting together the
“Ghost Out 2003” program for Norcross
High School was made possible by the financial
sponsorship of the following folks: The Forum on
Peachtree Parkway, City of Norcross & Norcross
Police Department, Jim Ellis Auto Group, Mike Hayes
Chrysler Plymouth, Dyer & Dyer Volvo, Volvo Cars
of North America, Acura Carland, United BMW, Barnes
& Noble Booksellers, Atlanta Toyota, Hennessey
Lexus of Gwinnett, Lance Wrecker Service, Crowell
Brothers Funeral Home, Uncle Vito’s Pizza on Jimmy
Carter Blvd., and Parents of Norcross High School.
Tremendous thanks also goes to the
following folks for devoted hard work and
participation: Debbie Mason and Michelle
Wehrheim, PTSA co-presidents; Ann Potts
and all the volunteers; Gina Parrish and her
talented drama students; Rhonda Rackley and
her SADD students; SRO Chuck McCallum, Mike
Emery, Norcross Police Department, Gwinnett
Fire, Rescue & EMT, District Attorney Danny
Porter, Gwinnett County Police Officer W.R.
Richardson, John Gale & Staff at the
County, The Family of Jayme Webb, Bob Howard
for video, and A.V. Interact Sound Company.
* * *
The Norcross Open Car Show is coming up on
Downtown Main Street, rain or shine, on Saturday,
May 17, 2003, from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. These
are the serious collectors, my friends. You will see
the most spruced up old cars you’ve ever laid eyes
on in your life. It is $20 for car registration
before May 1; after that and day of show
registration fee is $25. For information about the
car show, contact David Little at (770)
449-4111, or Dodger DeLeon at (770) 448-2664,
or Lane Campbell at (770) 476-7470. Vendors
need to call Wayne Ballard at (770) 448-4478.
There
will be a grand prize drawing for $500 for
pre-registered participants only. Proceeds will go
to local charities and for a nursing scholarship in
memory of Kristi DeLeon.
Music, bake sale, and food all day
long make this a great day to be in Historic
Norcross, Georgia. See you there.
* * *
Well, what do you
know! The
truth is revealed.
In the May 7, 2003 edition of The New York
Times, page A27, the conclusion is finally
announced that a second look at research regarding
school vouchers has overturned the original
favorable opinion on those things and reversed to
say that “the impact of a voucher offer is not
statistically significant.” Here’s the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/07/education/07EDUC.html
I have never been a fan of school
vouchers because they seemed to me to pander
entirely to the “something for nothing” group.
It was entirely the wrong direction in which to
solve the problem of poorly performing schools,
which have poor teachers and poor students who
together produce a poor result. Giving these
families tax dollars to go somewhere else seemed to
me to be a poor attempt to quick fix. Now, according
to this study, we are told that students’ scores
do not improve significantly under the voucher plan.
Public education is one of the great
strengths of this country and this voucher end-run
around them did not bode well for the future.
Education is everything for a successful and
satisfying life. The more you know, the better
prepared you are. Who will argue with that?
I believe a VERY LARGE KEY here to a
student’s success in school is the direction and
emphasis they receive from their parents. I believe
that in failing schools, this is the component that
is largely missing. Let’s talk about Parenting
instead of vouchers.
* * *
Hope all is well. Thanks for reading.
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