PHOTO SLIDESHOW: ‘Crash’ opens RB students’ eyes

Six students from Riverside Brookfield High School said being in a drunken driving accident was unlike anything they have ever experienced before — even though it was all staged.

The Riverside Fire Department and the Brookfield Police Department set up a fake accident May 6 on the high school’s football field. The stands were filled with the entire student body watching the aftermath of a simulated DUI crash.

“It sends a message to the students of the things that can happen, the reality of the situation,” senior Becca Black said.

Becca, Clare Walsh, Karol Buczakowski, Nathan Smith, Corie Suzuki and Mark Landess played the victims and the offender in the reenactment.

“It helps you get an understanding of the seriousness by being part of it,” Mark said.

The six student participants were dressed in prom attire, placed inside two cars and covered in tarps so they would not be revealed until their fellow classmates were ready for the reenactment.

Dawn Soprych, special education teacher and organizer for the event, said the students had make-up on and fake injuries randomly on their body to make the scene more realistic.

Once the simulation began, the two cars were placed as if it was a head-on collision. Smoke began filling the air and police officers were first to arrive on scene. Police went to each car to assess the situation.

Soon the fire department responded bringing extrication tools to free the injured students from the wreck. Firefighters pulled all six students from the cars by breaking windows and doors to get inside.

One fatality was simulated by the passenger in the drunken driver’s vehicle.

RB Assistant Principal John Passarella said the simulation helps students realize the decisions they make are life lasting.

“It’s important to send a message about the realities of drinking and driving,” Passarella said. “It is not going away.”

Clare said she had no idea it would be scary to be inside the car acting.

“The glass just pours on you,” she said when the firefighters shattered the car windows. “You can’t see what’s going on, so it’s scary.”

Police and firefighters prepared the acting students as much as they could about the process, but Becca said the noise and glass was overwhelming.

“I pictured myself like this was real,” she said. “I didn’t know how to act.”