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This past week, Los Alamitos High School brought the powerful Every 15 Minutes program back to campus—an emotionally charged, two-day experience designed to confront students with the harsh and often tragic realities of drinking and driving. The program kicked off with a dramatic crash simulation on Day 1. Onlookers watched in stunned silence as student actors portrayed the aftermath of a deadly DUI collision.
First responders from the Los Alamitos Police Department, Orange County Fire Authority, California Highway Patrol, and Orange County Coroner’s Office arrived on the scene, treating injuries and performing a simulated fatality investigation. The realism of the scene was designed to show students how quickly and devastatingly life can change due to one poor decision.
Throughout the day, students representing the “Walking Dead” were pulled silently from class every 15 minutes. Their faces were painted white, and they returned to class without speaking, symbolizing the haunting statistic that gave the program its name: in the early 1980s, someone in the United States died in an alcohol-related crash every 15 minutes. Though progress has been made, impaired driving continues to take lives every day.
On the second day, Every 15 Minutes brought the entire student body and many parents together for a culminating assembly that many described as “unforgettable.” The emotional centerpiece was a video produced entirely by students from LAHS’s award-winning Focus Studios film class, capturing the imagined aftermath of the crash, the heartbreak of families, and the long-lasting ripple effects of loss.
The film’s original score was composed by LAHS senior Joe Burke and recorded by the Los Alamitos High School Orchestra. The assembly also featured a moving guest speaker who shared his personal experience of being hit by an underage drunk driver. His raw and honest testimony, describing the physical and emotional trauma he continues to live with, brought many students and parents to tears—and served as a reminder that these aren’t just statistics. These are real people with real lives, families, and futures.
Every 15 Minutes is a community-wide program presented by The Youth Center, in partnership with the Los Alamitos Police Department, Orange County Fire Authority, California Highway Patrol, Orange County Coroner’s Office, and the Seal Beach Lions. Since 1999, The Youth Center has brought this program to Los Alamitos High School every two years, offering students a real-life experience—without real-life consequences.
“Watching the crash scene and then seeing the video the next day just made everything feel so real,” said one senior. “It makes you think twice—not just about drinking and driving, but about how our choices affect everyone around us.”
The Every 15 Minutes program is more than a simulation—it’s a community effort to prevent tragedy before it happens. With the help of students, parents, first responders, educators, and local partners, Los Alamitos High School is proud to continue this life-saving tradition that empowers students to make safe, smart, and life-respecting decisions.
