Every 15 Minutes Alcohol Education Program

The Chico Unified School District, in conjunction with the California Highway Patrol and the Office of Traffic Safety, is taking a proactive step in educating local high school students about making mature decisions when alcoholic beverages are involved. 

The program’s name was conceived in 1990 when one alcohol-related traffic fatality occurred in the United States every fifteen minutes.

Every 15 Minutes is a two-day program that challenges high school juniors and seniors to think about drinking, driving, personal safety and the responsibility of making mature decisions when lives are involved.

Newton-Bracewell Chico Funeral Home has been involved with and is a strong supporter of this program since its inception.

We are pleased to inform you that on March 31, 2010 and April 1, 2010 the "Every 15 Minutes" program will again be presented in partnership with California Highway Patrol, Chico Police Department, Chico Fire Department, Enloe Hospital, Newton-Bracewell Funeral Homes, and numerous other agencies and organizations on all CUSD high-school campuses. 

"Every 15 Minutes" is a two-day program originally developed by Chico Police Department in 1996 to help prevent alcohol-related incidents. The program focuses on 11th and 12th grade students, challenging them to think about drinking, personal safety, and the responsibility of making mature decisions. This program has won nationwide recognition and has been duplicated throughout the United States, and continues, thanks to a grant from the California Highway Patrol. 

Students selected from each school site will participate as the "living dead". As a casualty of an alcohol-related incident, every 15 minutes throughout the day, student participants will be removed from class by "the grim reaper" and made-up to be later reintroduced to their classes as a "living dead" victim. While the student is gone, a police officer and school counselor will read the "living dead" students' obituary to the class. Upon returning to class, the "living dead" student will continue on with their class schedule, but will not interact with others, as if "dead". An additional component of the program will include a staged, lunch-time drunk driving traffic collision on each campus. 

At the end of day one, the "living dead" students will participate in an overnight retreat where they will participate in a number of activities including listening to guest speakers, letter writing to parents, and preparing for the school assembly the following day. A separate program for all parents in the community will take place that evening from 7 - 8:30 at Enloe Conference Center, 1528 Esplanade. 

On day two of the program, an assembly for 11th and 12th grade students and parents will take place on each high school campus. The assembly will feature presentations by various individuals including those from law enforcement, emergency response personnel, school staff, parents, and the students themselves. The overall message of the assembly will be - alcohol doesn't just hurt those who drink it - too often, the innocent are the victims.