April 17th kicks off the Above The Influence week at FHC. There are a series of different activities that will be taking place. Throughout the week, students will experience talks with teachers, watch videos on FX, and juniors will see a “mock accident.”

The mock accident is based on distracted driving and how dangerous it truly is. Another school did it in the past, so FHC chose to follow suit in order to show students what a distracted driving accident is like. A crash scene will be set up as the students come in, and the medical respondent team will take action at the accident. Following the accident, students will then watch as they go through what happens at the hospital in this type of situation. They will then see the scene of the courtroom and what takes place in there. The students will see the parents and all of the different emotions that everyone in this particular situation endures. Lastly, the students will be able to end this example of a real-life situation by watching the funeral.

This was chosen to be done because it is incredibly different than a typical guest speaker coming in to merely chat with students. This truly opens the students’ eyes to what the consequences could entail. It is a bit more forceful to the mind to remember how dangerous distracted driving is. FHC is partnering with Mercy Health and their first respondent teams to do this mock accident. The goal of this mock accident is to reach out to all the students and train them to be safer drivers. Some of FHC’s teaching staff is involved with this Above The Influence activity, such as Kimberly Williamson. Williamson will be experiencing the accident alongside the students. She is known to be a role model for students to look up to.

“I’m trying to get kids to understand that if you are around people that don’t make good decisions, then they are not good to be around,” Williamson said.