Jeffrey Kern is tall, broad-shouldered and movie-star handsome, with the intense looks of a young Brando. And that’s a good thing, since the Pitman High senior wants to be a professional actor someday.
Kern put his acting chops to the test Thursday and Friday as part of the annual Every 15 Minutes program, which presents a staged drunk-driving accident that challenges students to think about the consequences of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
The program gets its name from a harrowing statistic: in the U.S., somebody is killed every 15 minutes in an alcohol-related accident.
Handcuffed and clad in orange jail coveralls, Kern was led by a California Highway Patrol officer into the PHS gymnasium – where more than 900 students were assembled for a mock funeral.
“I’m an actor,” said Kern. “I’ve done theater and drama my whole life, so I’m familiar with putting on a character and performing. But this was unlike anything I’ve ever done.”
Kern said he was more nervous for this role than any part he’s ever played – because it wasn’t really a character.
“I was playing myself after making one bad decision,” said Kern. “That’s where the line started to blur. This could be me. It was super impactful and such an emotion-filled day.”
Later, Kern was unshackled and allowed to take off his orange coveralls. But he said it didn’t bring the relief he’d imagined.
“I can never go back to the way I was before I had this experience,” said Kern. “It was never ‘I did this.’ It was ‘I could’ve done this.’ And I still could. This doesn’t mean my story is over and that I’ll never do this. One bad decision and this could be me.”
During the assembly, parents and crash “victims” took turns reading letters to their loved ones.
And even though the outcomes were fake, the tears were very real.
“How do I exist in a world without you in it,” Miranda Dieu read to her son Logan Martinez, a junior who portrayed one of the crash victims. “Now, all I have left is a memory and my eternal love for you.”
The program concluded with keynote speaker Maggie Lisi, a 31-year-old nursing student who was released last year after spending nearly a decade behind bars for driving drunk and causing the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Emma.
“I’m not here to tell you to change your life,” Lisi told the students. “I’m only here to tell you that it happened to me; it can happen here; it can happen to anyone.”
After the students had been dismissed, Lisi reflected on what her daughter, who would’ve recently celebrated her 12th birthday, might say to her today.
“I think she would be proud,” said Lisi, who shared that she was on suicide watch for the first two years she was incarcerated. “I know that she’s the reason I do anything positive. She would want me to bring awareness.”
According to California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Aaron Fay, the E15 program is, indeed, bringing awareness – and making an impact.
“The number now is approximately every 39 minutes, so this program is obviously working,” said Fay. “It started back in 1995 and has drastically reduced a lot of the deaths and injuries. The title will still be Every 15 minutes, which is very relatable, but approximately 39 minutes is what we’re looking at now.”
On Thursday, personnel from the CHP, Turlock Police Department, Turlock Fire Department, Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office, and American Medical Response ambulance service were dispatched to the staged collision, made frighteningly realistic by makeup artist Dana Walters, who owns Modesto-based costume shop Daydreams and Nightmares.
Some victims were taken to the hospital, others were taken to the morgue, and Kern was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center, complete with fingerprints, a mugshot, and a stint in a cell.
Emma Jackson portrayed a crash victim not as badly injured as her peers. During the performance, she tried desperately to help her friends while waiting for help to arrive.
“The audience being quiet made it feel 10 times more real,” said Jackson. “It was like they weren’t even there. It felt so real.”
Pitman Principal Janine Arakelian said even though she’s seen several Every 15 Minute performances, they remain intense.
“I’ve seen it, I’ve experienced it, but you still think about your own kids, and these are my kids,” said Arakelian, in her first year as PHS principal. “I’ve known Jeffrey since he was in kindergarten at my former school. A lot of the kids out there, I’m friends with their parents or I’ve known their parents through the years, so it’s personal. And even though you know it’s pretend and planned, when you see the kids, it’s emotional.”
