Adults hope story of real-life tragedy keeps grads safe

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June 4, 2008

By Cara Spilsbury

As Haverhill High seniors daydreamed about hairstyles or a tux that needed to be picked up before Friday night's prom, they were brought to immediate attention by a grim reminder: One bad decision can change — or end — a life.

Haverhill High's Students Against Destructive Decisions club hosted the award-winning program We've Had Enough on the morning of prom and just days before graduation because they wanted their peers to think twice before giving in to the temptations of drinking or drugs.

We've Had Enough is an uncensored look at the tragedies that can result from just one poor choice.

The program's founders — Roland Courtemache, a paramedic with Trinity EMS, Haverhill police Officer Dennis J. Moriarty, and funeral director Richard "Rick" Barry of Farmer and Sons Funeral Home — said they don't preach about what's right or wrong. Instead, they use personal experiences to get the point across.

Friday morning, Courtemache and Moriarty were joined by Rob Regan from Farmer and Sons Funeral Home in their presentation as graphic images flashed from a projector, showing cars smashed into trees, body parts bloodied and maimed, and faces scarred and burned. All resulted from drunken-driving accidents.

Then, to the haunting sounds of Green Day's "Good Riddance," a song often associated with bittersweet graduation goodbyes, Haverhill High math teacher Courtney Kelley and friend Katie Mahoney showed a video of their friend, Katie West, who was killed at age 16 when she decided to get into a car with a driver who had been drinking.

Mahoney had planned to go to college and live with Katie. They planned to share their weddings and envisioned their children growing up together. Instead, she started her junior year at Haverhill High, and will spend the rest of her life, without her best friend.

The reality check for the 467 graduates-to-be seemed to hit home as a hush came over the auditorium as the assembly went on.