BY DARRELL HALEN

Nick Goodwin, 16, was sitting in his English class when the Grim Reaper took him away.

When he returned a few minutes later, he was “dead,” his face had been painted white, and he shared a fictional story with his classmates.

He had gone to a party. He didn’t drink, but he and a friend were killed when they were hit by a car driven by someone coming from the same party.

Every 30 minutes, Nick read from the story, someone is killed by a drunk driver.

“We just want to remind you to be careful when you’re out with your friends,” student Kaleigh Doherty told the class.

Throughout Thursday, May 10 – one day before Pelham High School’s prom – the Grim Reaper claimed young lives throughout the school. It’s an annual program run by the school’s Peer Outreach group.

Sixteen students, one from each grade, “died,” and their stories of promising young lives cut short because of drinking and driving were shared with other students.

The students volunteered for the program, but they didn’t know when the Grim Reaper would come for them. After they had their face painted, and shared their fictional story, they remained silent for the rest of the day.

Natasha Kosik told fellow students in her physics class that following a night of dancing and drinking with friends, she drove off a road, hit a tree, and died.

The story on James Ransom’s locker shared how he had been drinking heavily with friends before he lost control of his car, killing a jogger and himself in the crash.

“Because of my decision to drink and drive, an innocent life was taken, as well as my own,” his message said.

It’s not only Peer Outreach that wants to keep students safe. The morning of the prom, Police Chief Joseph Roark encouraged an assembly of prom-goers to make smart decisions.

Roark told the students they were going to receive fliers featuring the police department’s telephone number. Students could call police to get a ride home – with no questions asked – if they or the person driving them had too much to drink.

Next, student Becca Mastropiero, 17, cried as she read a poem, “Death of an Innocent.” It’s told by a girl who followed her mother’s advice not to drink at a party, but is killed by a drunk driver who survived the accident.

Three teenagers have died in car crashes in Pelham in the last two months. One of those victims was Michelle Lemieux, who was a Pelham High student. Alcohol was not a factor in her accident, but her death was on the minds of many students, according to several people.

“I think with all the recent tragedy, it’s the most intense year,” Becca said after reading the poem. “I think it will make a big difference.”

Outside, students watched a mock accident involving student actors and real-life police officers and paramedics. At the scene of the two-car crash, a driver was arrested for driving while intoxicated, injured passengers were attended to by paramedics, and a hearse arrived to pick up a dead student.

The scene had an apparent effect on some of the students. Several had solemn looks on their faces. A few of them became distraught and left.

Like the police, Dorothy Mohr, the school’s principal, said she hoped the mock accident will influence students to make the right decisions.

“I hope it makes them think twice when they get behind the wheel,” Mohr said. “They need to look out for their friends who are in the car, too.”