Ghost Out event raises car safety awareness at William Campbell High School

A dark figure roamed the halls of William Campbell High School on Wednesday, and ghosts could be seen traveling the corridors.

Cloaked in a long, slinky black robe with a white mask and hood, the grim reaper moved classroom by classroom to claim his victims.

Rather than meeting their doom, his victims learned an important lesson — the dangers of driving while distracted.

“You don’t know if it’s (going to be) you, just like real life,” said the reaper, aka teacher Justin Wade.

Wade donned the costume as part of the school’s Ghost Out event. He gently hovered around students before tapping one, which symbolized their death in a car accident. He chose a new victim every 12 minutes to illustrate how often someone dies in a car accident.

This is the first time the school has participated in the event, although it’s done across the country. After Wade’s tap, students left the classroom to have their faces painted white. They were ghosts and couldn’t talk for the rest of the day.

As students joined the ranks of the afterlife, State Trooper Travis Barr entered the classroom and brought an eerie sense of realism to the event. He told students what kind of fictitious accident killed their classmate.

Some students die from simple distractions, such as reaching for a cell phone or an iPod. Others are under the influence of alcohol or are tired and fall asleep at the wheel. Barr said the visual component grabs students’ attention. Seeing their friends pulled out of class and then return as ghosts leaves an impression.

Wade said he hopes the impact stays with students, especially since their prom is Saturday.

“I think it’s a good thing,” he said of the event’s timing, later adding, “I think it’s for a good cause, to go around and show what could happen if you don’t buckle up, or use alcohol.”

Ironically, he said, a letter was sent home to parents about Wednesday’s activity last week, shortly after a wreck in Bedford County involving three teenagers. The accident left one teen dead; he was a student at Liberty High School in Bedford County.

William Campbell’s Ghost Out was almost a month in the making. The school’s “Youth of Virginia Speak Out About Traffic Safety,” or YOVASO, group sponsored it. School resource officer Deputy Joel Everhart helped students to coordinate the event.

“We’re finding out through statistics, state police, the DMV — a lot of teenagers now are distracted driving,” he said.

His group wants to create awareness and educate, he said, because students need to know what could occur on the roadway if they are not focused.

“It puts it in the back of their mind,” he said.

YOVASO members who helped paint faces and guide the grim reaper thought the activity was a success. Senior Samantha Isaacs said at first some students appeared skeptical, but once the cause of death was read there was a sobering effect.

“With something like this, it just happens; it catches you off guard,” she said, adding tragic accidents can be prevented by being responsible.

Senior Katie Guill, who was also among those helping during the Ghost Out, said she just wants other students to be aware. Guill said it’s important to know a tragic death can happen any time, and preventing it can be as simple as staying focused and eliminating distractions.

“You’re not guaranteed another day.”

William Campbell High School 10th-grade history teacher Justin Wade dressed up like the grim reaper for school on Wednesday to raise awareness about automobile accident deaths.