On Oct. 1, Monroe Clinic and Monroe High School partnered together on a special program for area high school students. The 75-minute presentation at the Monroe High School Performing Arts Center dramatized the tragic results of combining driving with alcohol, inattentive driving, texting and cell phone use - especially when not wearing a seatbelt. The program was made possible through the generous donors to the Monroe Clinic and Hospital Foundation.
The theatrical performance portrayed the story of three fictional students involved in a car crash - an intoxicated driver, a passenger whose injuries resulted in lifelong physical and mental challenges, and a passenger who was killed when he was thrown from the car. The program also featured two presentations by actual survivors - a young woman who was the sole survivor of a car accident that killed three of her friends, and a mother whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver.
More than 320 students from Argyle, Black Hawk, Juda, Monroe and Monticello high schools attended the program.
Many people contributed to the program, and we would like to thank them for their time and commitment to the youth of these communities. Actors included firefighters and EMS providers from Green County, Juda and Monticello, officers from the Monroe Police Department and the Green County Sheriff, the Circuit Court of Green County, the Green County Coroner, student actors and student stage crew from Monroe High School, and physicians, nurses and medical staff from Monroe Clinic. These real-life heroes brought their role in protecting our communities to life on the stage.
Special thanks as well to guest speakers Mary Reinhart and Bonnie Stamm, volunteer director Cindy Blanc, Romey Cherney, and all who participated. Thank you also to The Monroe Times for the great coverage of the program.
Together these individuals and groups asked area students to make better choices when it comes to vehicle use, alcohol or drug use, and behaviors that cause inattentive driving. Our communities are fortunate to have such caring adults in the lives of their students.
- Deirdre Gruendler is the executive director of the Monroe Clinic and Hospital Foundation, and Mark Burandt
is principal of Monroe High School.
The theatrical performance portrayed the story of three fictional students involved in a car crash - an intoxicated driver, a passenger whose injuries resulted in lifelong physical and mental challenges, and a passenger who was killed when he was thrown from the car. The program also featured two presentations by actual survivors - a young woman who was the sole survivor of a car accident that killed three of her friends, and a mother whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver.
More than 320 students from Argyle, Black Hawk, Juda, Monroe and Monticello high schools attended the program.
Many people contributed to the program, and we would like to thank them for their time and commitment to the youth of these communities. Actors included firefighters and EMS providers from Green County, Juda and Monticello, officers from the Monroe Police Department and the Green County Sheriff, the Circuit Court of Green County, the Green County Coroner, student actors and student stage crew from Monroe High School, and physicians, nurses and medical staff from Monroe Clinic. These real-life heroes brought their role in protecting our communities to life on the stage.
Special thanks as well to guest speakers Mary Reinhart and Bonnie Stamm, volunteer director Cindy Blanc, Romey Cherney, and all who participated. Thank you also to The Monroe Times for the great coverage of the program.
Together these individuals and groups asked area students to make better choices when it comes to vehicle use, alcohol or drug use, and behaviors that cause inattentive driving. Our communities are fortunate to have such caring adults in the lives of their students.
- Deirdre Gruendler is the executive director of the Monroe Clinic and Hospital Foundation, and Mark Burandt
is principal of Monroe High School.
