Perry County schools gathering for Junior-Senior Conference
PERRYVILLE, Mo., (KBSI)- On April 17th, Perry County schools will be gathering at the Perry Park Center for the Junior-Senior Conference. Where students will witness a live action play by play of a motor vehicle accident due to driving under the influence.
All high school Juniors and Seniors from Perryville High School District #32, St. Vincent De Paul and Saxony Lutheran High School attend the conference.
Perry County Sheriff, Jason Klaus says the conference is something he feels every student should see, “It’s important for our students to actually see those consequences in front of them. we’d rather see it in a mock accident, rather than experience it themselves.”
He adds that it helps students make healthy, safe decisions for themselves and others when it comes to getting behind the wheel, “So there’s a lot of different dynamics, going on there, along with the Perryville Fire Department, and Perry County EMS, you know kind of working that scene and using the jaws of life to extract the other victim.”
Brandie Mantz is the Director for the Perry County Community Task Force and says since its establishment in 1998, the program has expanded with a reenactment, speakers, videos, and a docudrama presented to the students that they can participate in.
Mantz says, “It did just start out with the docudrama itself, and ever since then maybe presenters would come along, share their story, we try to center it around what is going on in the community predominantly at the time.”
The Perryville Fire Department, Perryville Police Department, Perry County Ambulance, Air-Evac, and Ives Towing Company, all help with the reenactment for this simulation with the important message to be safe when getting behind the wheel of a vehicle.
