Stone organizes "Ghost Out" to promote alcohol awareness

As a junior member of the Jefferson County DUI Task Force, Whitehall High School senior Catelyn Stone is very aware of the dangers of alcohol.

With April being designated as Alcohol Awareness Month and after encouragement from Task Force Director Barb Reiter, Stone wanted to share some of the knowledge she has learned with her fellow students. Among the facts learned by Stone during her time on the task force is that 16 people under the age of 18 die every day in America because of alcohol. Because Stone wanted to make it personal to the student body, she organized a "Ghost Out" at the school.

Stone said she selected 15 students and one teacher to represent the 16 who die every day. Those selected painted their faces white and were each given a statistic to wear. At the start of each class the student or teacher would share with the class the statistic about the dangers of alcohol.

Prior to the "Ghost Out", Stone said a few students at the school seemed to recognize the dangers of alcohol, but she wanted to give them something shocking to get her point across and did this with the painted faces. She also picked a popular teacher, Dan Lacey, so kids would really pay attention to the message.

While many students were responsive, Stone did not get the response she had expected.

Stone said a lot of students look at the dangers of alcohol by saying, "It won't happen to me".

"It can happen to anyone," she said.

Stone has learned a lot and had a fun experience on the task force, but is hoping to encourage a student to be her replacement next year.