DRINK, DRIVE, GO TO JAIL

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press

 

Homecoming king, Dawgs football standout and college-bound CCHS senior J.P. Urquidez was led away in handcuffs by Copperas Cove Police officers Tuesday morning on Avenue D in front of Copperas Cove High School as hundreds of classmates watched the aftermath of a car accident unfold before them.

 

The setup was part of a program called “Shattered Dreams”, typically held every two years and is meant to serve as a vivid lesson about underage drinking and consequences of driving while impaired.

 

Two cars collided, with one passenger ejected from one vehicle and another slumped over the hood of the other vehicle after going through the windshield. An unfortunate pedestrian in camouflage lay prone on the street.

 

News of the accident was broadcast on the high school’s public address system, with juniors and seniors released from class to witness the accident scene up close.

 

The Copperas Cove Fire Department and Police Department reported to the scene, with two passersby on their way to work—EMTs with a medical airlift service—also stopping to help. Two accident victims were pronounced dead at the scene, with two injured victims being transported by ambulance.

 

Copperas Cove Deputy Fire Chief Gary Young said the fire department’s response with both an engine and ambulances was carried out as realistically as possible, treating the accident as if it were a real accident scene.

 

Shattered Dreams, a two-day event, is run by students of the Peer Assistance Leadership, or PAL, program at CCHS.

 

Sarah Lerchenfelt is one of the PAL responsible for coordinating everything from emergency services through the city and the other outside businesses and organizations lending support.

 

The two fatalities on the scene, JROTC’s Chief Enrique Herrera and CCHS senior Emily Drever, did not return to campus after the accident. Several other students in addition to Drever were paid a visit from the Grim Reaper during lunchtime on Tuesday and were removed from the school. Copperas Cove’s Days Inn provided accommodations for the deceased students, along with food. Although parents of the students were in on what happened to their teens, the students were not allowed to have contact with any of them or use their phones or social media.

 

Herrera sees the importance of holding events like Shattered Dreams for the students.

 

“It gives them an idea of what could really happen, the consequences of their behavior,” said Herrera. “It’s not a game.”

 

Drever, one of the traffic accident fatalities, said she didn’t know until after she had filled out a leadership packet that she would be participating in this role for Shattered Dreams.

 

With her makeup done by CCHS theatre arts teacher Molli Maberry, Drever took her place facedown on Avenue D after being “flung” from one of the vehicles in the accident.

 

She described the experience as “eye-opening” while she laid on the pavement, listening to the cries of her friend, Bailey French, who was crying for her mother as she was transported by ambulance.

 

“She’s one of my best friends; it was very touching, to be in it and know what it’s like to be in that situation,” Drever said, whose older sister, Alicia, participated in Shattered Dreams in 2011 with the same role.

 

During their time away from life as they know it, the “deceased” students attended a leadership retreat at Days Inn. The high school held a memorial service for them on Thursday morning.