Bristol Eastern High School, Bristol, CT

(Note: !MPACT received the following letter from the Technology Education Teacher at Bristol Eastern. Some of the student feedback he enclosed is printed below.)

"Your organization recently made a presentation at Bristol Easter High School. My name is Ray Williard and I am a teacher at BEHS. My class attended the presentation. Our auditorium was full of students and for the entire time you could have heard a pin drop. The students were so attentive and interested. When the bell sounded for the students to leave for lunch, not one of them left their seat. All the students wanted to see the video and stayed to the end. This was an excellent program for students to hear and I think it hit home.

The material had such an emotional effect on my students, so I decided to give them a writing assignment to wrap up the program and validate the importance of the subject… Please share it with the presenters so they know what am impact they had."

Student Feedback
"Sitting in a class and hearing your teachers preach about this subject gets us nowhere. Most of the time, it makes teens want to go out and do these things knowing they aren't supposed to… A day or two after [the program], we had a snowstorm. I have a sports car that doesn't do too well in the snow… I was getting ready to leave work at 6:00 p.m. and instead of chancing it, I thought of you and called my parents to come get me. My father drove me home in my car, my mom drove the jeep. They were surprised that I was mature enough to call them, and I have you to thank for that… A lot of times

you hear that if your child is doing sports, you don't have to worry about drinking or drugs. I'm not here to lie to you. I have a big group of friends who are pretty popular, on the sports teams, and like to go party. I see kids not able to walk who sometimes do end up getting into their cars driving home. After you came to talk to us… I have told kids not to drive home, took their keys, or drove them home myself."

"It's really quite hard to put into words how much something like your presentations mean to high school students. I remember one mother asked, 'How many of you have felt uncomfortable in a car with someone who was driving too fast?' I raised my hand, because I had. At the end of her speech she asked, 'How many of you, if you find yourself in a car traveling too fast, will now tell that driver to either slow down or let you out?' I raised my hand and looked around… everyone had their hand up. That is a prime example of the impact this assembly had on everyone in the room... Over two weeks later I still wear my seatbelt every time I get into a car and I never speed… I was so touched by these presentations that on Dec. 17… I thought about Joey and his family and how they were handling his two year anniversary. And when it snowed, I thought about Mrs. Palmer wanting to shovel off Dan's grave. When the wind blew, I thought about Ryan's mother… setting things right at the cemetery."

"While you were telling us the story in school I turned to my best friend and said I will take your keys away every time and she said, same here. You really touched us to the point where I am so much more careful when I am driving and I am also more aware of my surroundings."

"I think that your presentation was very effective. I know that personally you have changed my life. Shortly after you came, cold and snowy weather hit. As I was driving home from work that night, roads covered in snow and ice, I could not shake the image of your sons with their friends or you on that stage talking about them. It made me slow down and think about what I was doing… Before this program I would have taken the keys from a friend only if I was supposed to be getting in the car with them. After your program I would not take the keys from any friend whether I was getting in that car or not… I just want you to know that my life will never be the same because you have chosen to tell your stories.

"Listening to the speakers really did change my way of thinking. Usually the number one worry for teens is getting caught by the cops, but this presentation brought life and death into the situation. Seeing how young these kids were, 16, 17, 19, all so young. It made us realize that these really were average kids, like all of us. We used to think this kind of stuff only happened to people who were alcoholics or just really bad people. These kids were good students, sons, and good people... I think this presentation was very good, and should definitely be given to students every year." 

"School assemblies have always been boring and just a reason to not have class… I believe this is the only presentation that has ever impacted my life. I don't think there is a single person who saw this program who isn't gong to think twice about driving drunk, speeding, and even being the passenger of someone who is driving drunk and/or speeding."