Students and teachers fell silent with heartbreak as they watched a surprise presentation put on by SADD called “Every 15 Minutes” on Nov8.

Prior to the presentation during sixth and seventh period, a bell rang over the intercom about every 15 minutes throughout the school day.

Each bell signified a student becoming a victim of a car accident caused by distracted or drunk driving.

“‘Every 15 Minutes’ is a national event put on by a lot of schools around the country,” SADD president senior Maddie Partridge said. “Once we did some research and realized the impact it has on students… we knew we wanted to try it.”

Every 15 minutes, one pre-selected student would leave a classroom and moments later, another student dressed in all black would enter that classroom and place a black cloth and a rose on the empty desk. The student’s cause of death was read to the class by the person in black, also known as one of the “death angels.”

“It was weird knowing that the bells were supposed to be people ‘dying’,” said freshman Isabelle Molander.

More than 15 students became “victims” throughout the day, not including those who were “arrested” for being the distracted or intoxicated drivers. Senior Freddie Pim was arrested during the middle of second lunch for being under the influence of marijuana while driving, as a part of the simulation.

Along with Pim, students that were also arrested were junior Paige O’Leary, junior Michael Stamas, senior Danielle Fucci, senior Linnea Henningson and senior Patrick Kane.

The end-of-day assembly opened with videos containing photos of accidents caused by distracted driving, before SADD advisors Becca Haberman and Pamela Mackey introduced Northborough resident Nick Cappello to speak about the death of his son Paul, a former Algonquin student that was killed in a drunk driving accident in 2005.

Students sat in stunned silence as Cappello spoke of his son’s vibrant love for life and read the lyrics to Paul’s favorite song, ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ by Green Day.

  “Drinking and driving is a death sentence,” Cappello said.

The “victims” were seated in a circle in the center of the gym, all with papers taped to their chests marking the time of their death.

After Cappello finished, a microphone went around the circle of “victims” and each “victim” spoke of the situation they were in when they died. Many “victims” caused their own deaths with driving infractions such as speeding or texting while driving, while others were passengers killed by the distracted actions of their driving friends.

Self-written eulogies followed, read by several victims, including history teacher Renee Moulton, senior Kelly Wendt, junior Emily Lowe, junior Samantha Mauro, sophomore Jake Gore, and senior Jem Sibbick.

Senior Danielle Fucci, as a simulated driver convicted of vehicular manslaughter, read a powerful apology through tears.

Many students were deeply affected by the presentation.

“I’m almost afraid to drive now,” said junior Abbie Reynolds, after the conclusion of the assembly. “It just hit home.”

To create such a powerful, eye-opening event, preparation was long and detailed.

“The kids came up with the idea to do this, and we were really hesitant at first,” SADD advisor Becca Haberman said. “But they really pushed for it.”

“We started preparing for this around this time last year,” Partridge said. “It was planned to be in May, but unfortunately, there was the Marathon Bombings, so we postponed it.”

“[The emotion regarding the Marathon] was still too raw,” Haberman said. “It was too soon.”

To have a successful and surprising event, there were dozens of students sworn to secrecy during the past year.

“We had to make sure information about it didn’t get out so we could really make an impact on the students that they weren’t expecting,” Haberman said.

“[Students Against Destructive Decisions] is our way to show students at Algonquin that their decisions really do affect them, as well as other people, sometimes in a negative way,” Partridge said.

A few years ago, one student’s decision to drive drunk affected the lives of everyone in the Northborough/Southborough community. Shauna and Meghan Murphy, sisters and students at Algonquin, were killed in a car crash on their way home from a party.

“We’re trying to prevent another tragedy,” Haberman said, tearing up. “We lost the Murphy sisters in 2005 in a car accident, and we just don’t want that to happen again.”