“A Day to Remember” Students Stage Haunting Mock Crash to Confront the Reality of Drunk Driving
Joe Lyons •
April 7, 2025
“A Day to Remember” Students Stage Haunting Mock Crash to Confront the Reality of Drunk Driving
ASHLAND, OH — April 4, 2025. A haunting silence followed the blare of sirens as first responders entered into the parking lot of Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center. The scene was surreal. A crumpled vehicle against a pole, the front windshield shattered. A girl’s lifeless body lay sprawled across the hood, eyes closed, unmoving. Another passenger was slumped in the backseat, pinned and unconscious. The driver’s head was against the wheel, unresponsive.
But this time—thankfully—it wasn’t real.
The chaos, the grief, the horror were all part of a powerful student-led project, a mock crash so planned and convincing that even seasoned first responders admitted it stirred something deep within them. Organized by four high school seniors—Zoie Gaus and Jalynn Harris of Mapleton School, and Raelee Weiler and Lily Rhoades of Ashland School—the dramatic reenactment served as a gut-wrenching warning of what happens when impaired driving turns deadly.
Before the crash scene unfolded, students and Career Center staff gathered where a video was played, setting up for the following illustration.
“That call is every first responder’s nightmare,” said Amanda Young, health technologies instructor at the Career Center and one of the adult actors in the performance. “It’s the kind of thing that sticks with you, long after your shift ends.”
As part of their senior project, the four students created a full-scale simulation of an alcohol-fueled car crash. In their backstory, it was supposed to be a carefree Saturday night. After a school dance, the group stopped by Zoie’s house, where alcohol was consumed before heading to a party.
Raelee, blurred by booze, recklessly took the wheel.
They never made it.
The car, speeding into the darkness, slammed into a pole. Zoie was ejected through the front windshield, landing with a sickening stillness on the hood. Lily was thrown around. Jalynn was trapped in the backseat. Raelee survived with minor injuries—enough to be arrested at the scene for DUI and vehicular homicide.
The portrayal was brutally honest. Firefighters tore into the vehicle with the Jaws of Life to reach the pinned passengers. Deputies secured the scene. Zoie declared deceased, EMTs covered her body with a white sheet. A body bag was unzipped and zipped again. There was no Hollywood music, no slow fade to black—only the cold, stark realism of tragedy.
“I Heard Them Say I Was Gone”
For the student actors, this wasn’t just a performance. It was a confrontation with the unthinkable.
“The 2025 Mock Crash affected me in more ways than I knew it could,” Zoie Gaus said. “Hearing my friend make a 911 call, saying I wouldn’t wake up… hearing people call me deceased… it’s a moment I will never forget. Being zipped in a body bag is something that will stay with me forever.”
Raelee Weiler, who portrayed the driver, struggled to put the experience into words. “Seeing my best friend on the hood, dead—knowing it was because of me, because of a decision I made—that feeling is something no one should have to carry. And yet, so many people do. It’s avoidable. It has to be.”
Lily Rhoades said she could feel the weight of the moment from inside the scene. “We didn’t want to just shock people—we wanted to open their eyes. I think being in that car, watching the responders fight to save us, watching Zoie be declared dead, made it real. I hope it saves someone. Even just one person.”
For Jalynn Harris, whose father and close family friends are firefighters, the emotional impact was even deeper. “These accidents happen every day. I’ve heard about them my whole life. But this made me feel it. To know that one bad choice can tear apart a family, destroy friendships, and haunt first responders for years—it’s heartbreaking.”
The mock crash was more than a school project. It was a community-wide collaboration between the students and numerous agencies: the Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center administration, Hayesville and Jeromesville Fire Departments & EMS, the Ashland County Sheriff’s Department, the Ohio Highway Patrol, Fickes Funeral Home, School Resource Deputy’s Joe Fulton & Shelby Hammond, and the Ashland County Coroner’s Office. Adult actors Shannon Weiler and Amanda Young portrayed grieving mothers—each receiving the call that no parent ever wants to hear.
“Everything we did was grounded in reality,” said Amanda Young. “This wasn’t a drama club exercise. This is what happens. I’ve known families who’ve had to get that call. And now, these students do too.”
A Message That Hits Home
The mock crash comes at a critical time. Nationwide, impaired driving remains a leading cause of death for teenagers. In Ashland County, the scars from past tragedies are still fresh. That’s why events like this matter—because they force a pause, a reckoning.
“I hope the message hit home,” said Zoie. “We all want to make a difference. If one person thinks twice before getting behind the wheel drunk or high, then everything we went through was worth it.”
The audience—many of them classmates—left shaken. Some cried. Others sat in stunned silence. And that’s exactly what the students hoped for. Because this wasn’t just a performance. It was a plea. Don’t drink and drive. Don’t make that call necessary. Don’t make your family the next one to get that phone call.
Ashland County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Kurt J. Schneider, remarked, “I appreciate the collaboration between our local schools and the first responder community by providing a close up look at tragedies resulting from operating motor vehicles while impaired. These incidents have profound consequences for our families and communities. Mock scenarios, like this are very educational for our youth, which stress the importance of making sound, responsible decisions when getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. My hope is that each student gleaned something from the exercise which will result in good decision making, keeping them and their friends out of harm way.”
Ashland Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol Lieutenant Brad Bishop commented, “Today’s mock crash was an excellent opportunity to remind students the dangers of impaired and districted driving. As prom season approaches, this was a great demonstration to show the consequences of reckless behavior. I would like to thank our partner agencies for coming together to help prevent future tragedies and ensure the safety of our community’s young people.”
Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center Principal Rick Brindley told me, “The reason that our Health Tech Program does the Mock Crash every two years is to give students an idea of what actually takes place at the scene of a crash involving impaired drivers. It is a great effort for the four senior ladies, their teacher and all of the emergency crews that were in the meetings and at the scene today. We strive how important it is for our students if they are ever in that situation to not get behind the wheel or in a car with someone that is impaired. I always stress that they want to be here for tomorrow and to make the best decision possible for them to have a bright future. Just Be Safe!”
View video at: https://youtu.be/2YAWBBLvg2g
Thanks to Carl Gilliam at https://appleseednews.com/ for his assistance with video and pictures.
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