"Don't Wreck Your Life" is the slogan behind La Porte High School's upcoming presentation of Shattered Dreams, an educational program aimed at preventing teenage drinking and driving. The comprehensive two-day program, to be held March 9 and 10, involves several activities that educate youth by dramatizing the problems associated with drinking and driving.

According to LPHS assistant principal and Shattered Dreams coordinator Curtis Daugherty, the event is planned by both community members and school personnel to show students how their dreams as well as those of their families and others can be shattered as a result of poor choices. The Shattered Dreams program, which is hosted at LPHS every two years, takes place the week before Spring Break and shortly before prom and other end-of-year activities in an effort to help students to think twice about drinking and driving. This year the program will also be addressing the issue of texting and driving with a video broadcast the week before.

On the first day of the program, students representing those who die in car crashes will leave their classrooms to become members of the "Living Dead." In addition, other students will participate in a staged auto crash at the intersection of Fairmont and Park Street near the high school.

That night, participants will attend an overnight leadership retreat. An assembly the following morning for juniors and seniors will include motivating speeches by participants, their parents and community leaders. The assembly will include a mock funeral for the "victim" of the crash.

Throughout the event, teachers will have educational materials regarding drinking and driving to use in their classrooms.

In addition to LPHS staff and students, the event is hosted by La Porte Emergency Medical Services, La Porte Police Department, La Porte Municipal Courts, La Porte Fire Department, City of La Porte, Southeast Memorial Hospital, Paul U. Lee Funeral Home, Bay Area Council on Drugs and Alcohol Awareness, Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission, and the La Porte ISD Maintenance and Transportation Departments.

One of the major features of the program is that it provides college scholarships to LPHS students funded by donations by individuals, businesses and organizations in the community. Those who would like to contribute, or who would like more information about the program, should contact Daugherty at 281-604-7523 or daughertyc@lpisd.org.