A road less traveled?

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Tommy Fatagante, a sophomore at Coal City High School, is arrested by Patrolman David Kasher during a scene in Road to Reality at Coal City Middle School Wednesday. Fatagante played a drunk driver who caused a fatal car accident. (Herald Photo by Adam Nekola - anekola@morrisdailyherald.com)

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COAL CITY – As 14-year-old Morgan Piehl left the last scene of The Road to Reality presentation, she walked alongside her mother as they both wiped tears from their faces.

Morgan and her mother, Jennifer, attended the event together to prepare Morgan for decisions she’ll be faced with in upcoming years.

“She’ll be driving next year,” Jennifer said regarding why they attended the event.
But Morgan was not forced to be there by any means.

“There were some kids who don’t seem to know how important it is. But you just hear so many stories about people getting hurt . . . ,” Morgan said before stopping to catch her breath through her tears.

Morgan and her mother are just two of hundreds of people who walked the road of a group of teenagers who made a bad decision to drink and drive in a skit at Coal City Middle School Wednesday.

This was the second year for The Road to Reality put on by the Community Cares Initiative with No Tolerance Task Force and the Coal City Unit 1 School District. More than 100 volunteers helped out with the event, including local professionals such as Grundy County Associate Circuit Judge Lance Peterson, State’s Attorney Sheldon Sobol, Coal City Police Chief Keith Hefner and other police, fire and emergency personal.

The goal of the road is to educate and prevent students from risking their lives and others’ lives by drinking and driving, said Kim Scerine, Community Cares Initiative chairperson. The free event is aimed at students from fifth to 12th grades because statistics show kids as young as fifth grade are experimenting with alcohol.

This year’s skit was different from last year’s, but still focused on the road teenagers take when they choose to drink and drive.

It showed a different way the kids obtained the alcohol, and in the “courtroom,” the audience heard more from the defendant and victim’s family, rather than just the lawyers.

“How we staged it came from the kids and their experiences,” Scerine said.

It’s an emotional experience for most, and even though some may not show it, it’s hard not to take it with you.

“I just hope 10 percent of the kids really take it to heart,” Hefner said. “I think a large number of them maybe don’t want to show it when they walk out, but I think it’s going to hit about 75 percent of them.”

The Scene Plays Out

The skit began with four teenagers sneaking into one of their parent’s garages to steal beer. The kids pack a cooler full of beer as one of the girls suggest someone being the designated driver since they’re going to be drinking in the car.

“Sure, who wants to not drink tonight?” one of the boys asks.

The group immediately bursts into laughter as no one volunteers.

The audience is then taken into a hallway where a 911 call is played. The teenage boy driver is calling and crying that his girlfriend is unconscious and bleeding next to him and how he can’t find one of his friends.

The next scene took place outside of the school, where two Coal City ambulances, two squad cars and a fire truck were on scene. Firefighters were working to get the driver’s girlfriend out of the flipped car.

The driver’s best friend was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead by Grundy County Coroner John Callahan. In the mean time, the driver is being arrested by a Coal City police officer.

“You said we’d be OK!” one of the surviving friends yells to the driver. “I told you! I told you to slow down!”

The scene ends with the driver being put into the back of the squad car and saying, “I’m sorry.”

On the way to the next scene, a sign is posted stating: “Fact: More kids are killed by alcohol then any other illegal drug.”

The audience is led to a classroom that has been transformed into an emergency room, where Morris Hospital Emergency Room Dr. Michael Kryza acted out the scene of trying to save the life of the driver’s girlfriend with her hysterical mother by her side.

Despite his efforts, the doctor has to pronounce the girl dead through her crying mother’s screams.
From the emergency room, audience members are then taken to a courtroom where they hear a victim impact statement from the sister of one of the victims and then the statement from the driver who gets convicted by Judge Lance Peterson.

Making ‘Reality’ Real

Entering the last scene, every member of the audience walks into a dark room and passes a glowing table featuring pictures and mementos of Amanda Jahn and her two young children, Ryan and Kaitlyn.

On Nov. 6, 2008, a week after last year’s Road to Reality, this family was killed by a drunk driver.

A video featuring pictures and film of the family, who is survived by the Dwight father, Josh Jahn, was then played. Pictures of the family scrolled across the screen, which were followed by video footage of the accident scene and the funeral.

A picture of 3-year-old Ryan was shown and then footage of his ripped coat lying in a corn field. A photo of 11-month-old Kaitlyn then appeared, followed by footage of her thrashed car seat. Both students and adults alike watching were moved to tears.

Once the video ended, Josh Jahn appeared from a doorway with a short message.

“My name is Josh and this is my family,” he said. “I wanted to be here tonight because I want to make it real for you. In this fast paced world with everything at your fingertips, statistics go through one ear and out the other. These are not statistics, this is my family.”

“I ask you to remember them and the choices you make,” he added before leaving the room.

For more information on Community Cares Initiative, visit www.communitycaresinitiative.com.

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