Margaux Rentzel

Leonid Staff Writer

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On a dreary Thursday morning, a hush fell over the senior class as Mr. Grant Gouker’s voice pierced the silence. He summoned emergency services to a car crash on Horace Mann Avenue.

In the foreground, were two cars, one on top of the other, filled with teenagers in prom attire.

Senior Natalie Rentzel stepped out of one of the vehicles, looking confused and distraught with streaks of fake blood on her face. Breaking the silence were her screams for her friends who were passengers in the cars.

Red Lion High School held its 13th annual Mock Car Crash in the Horn Field parking lot May 9, 2019. Assistant principal, Mr. Gouker, runs this program to remind seniors of the consequences that drunk driving causes.

“It just takes one bad quick decision,” Gouker said. “To ruin not only that person’s life but potentially other people’s lives.”

The senior class watched their classmates being pulled out of two crashed cars by emergency personnel.

“They were pulling the car apart and all of the glass came in on you,” one of the passengers, Senior Cora Beyer said. “And it was scary.”

In the crashed cars were Seniors, Cora Beyer, Phil Douglass, Rosa Wagner, Dean Haynes, Tatum Bouch, Riley Miller, John Crone, and the drunk driver, the first-ever female to play this role, Natalie Rentzel.  

“It was eye-opening that they could switch the gender roles,” Senior, Natalie Rentzel said. “Because it can happen to anyone, not just males.”

The impact was felt by both the people who were in the car crash and seniors who were watching.

“It was definitely a good experience to let us know and how to behave ourselves,” senior, Kayla Mckie said. “Like don’t drink and drive.”  

The purpose of the Mock Accident is to remind students to be consciouses of the choices that they make during prom season.