| Producing the winning ticket for a million dollars. |
Marc Savard, a hypnotist, mesmerized the Carbon High School student body and faculty last Tuesday. He began by allowing anyone who felt they may like the experience of being hypnotized to go to the stage. About 70 students rushed on stage in hopes of being picked to continue in the program.
The group was whittled down to 15 students, all of which seemed to be more deeply under the spell of the hypnotist. As the program continued Savard instructed the students to dance, engage in a lollipop licking activity and react following the announcement of winning a million dollars.
The first hour of the program was based around more entertaining activities but then the program switched its focus and, according to Melissa Swensen, counselor, “the audience experienced a very moving and powerful message presented by Savard.”
Still under hypnosis, the students were given a scenario of being involved in a drunk driving accident. Half of the students were in a car driven by a drunk driver. The passengers were all underage drinkers also, returning from a party. The other vehicle was a family, including a mother, father, and several children who were between the ages of six and 10. At the sound of the crash, the students tool on the roles of those who would have been involved in such a horrible accident. One of the children in the family vehicle had died. One teenager in the other vehicle was paralyzed from the waist down and another experienced disfigurement of her face due to flying glass and metal.
The students responded in a very realistic way. There was screaming and crying. According to Swensen, “The effects were real to them. the audience also felt the emotions as the scene continued and the participants emotions soared.”
Savard then allowed the participants to rest and relax as he told his own story of being a victim of a drunk driving accident. He showed pictures of the accident scene in 1996. “His message to the students was that drunk driving crashes are 100 percent preventable. It was a powerful and meaningful presentation,” said Swensen.
The program was sponsored by Carbon Students Against Destructive Decisions and Carbon County Safe and Drug Free Schools.