BURLESON — Carly Love’s enthusiasm for “Shattered Dreams” is contagious. She was determined not to let the program be forgotten before it slipped through the cracks of the spring assembly schedule.

“I can’t say it’s near and dear to my heart because I don’t know anybody personally who’s been involved in a drinking and driving accident,” said Burleson High’s student body president, a senior. “But that’s one of those things that can happen to anybody, and the message needs to get out. You can’t just tell kids, ‘Don’t drink and drive.’ They’ve heard that before. You have to show them. If you show them, it means more.”

The two-day presentation April 20-21 will instruct students in the ills of alcohol-related car accidents. A realistic accident scene will be staged the first day. The second day will feature an assembly and talk by someone whose life has been touched by an alcohol-related accident.

“Shattered Dreams” had been happening every three years at Burleson since the ’90s, dating to the days of the old high school campus.

It had been under the direction of Jerry Stringer, former school resource officer. When Stringer was elected Precinct 3 commissioner, the project floundered.

“It will take several individuals to match the efforts he put into the program,” said BHS resource officer Jack Goleman.

Love and Amanda Werley were two people. They stepped in just in time.

“I moved here two and a half years ago and had never been involved in the program,” Love said, “but I heard about it from my friends. I’m in broadcast journalism, and we have videos of it. When my friends who had graduated found out we might not have ‘Shattered Dreams’ this year, they said, ‘You need to have this program.’

“In the middle of February, Amanda Werley [senior and chairman of the Mayor’s Youth Council] and I got together and decided it had to happen. We talked to Toni Alverson, the student council co-sponsor, and asked if she would be willing to help us. We needed a go-to person at the high school.

“She said yes, and she spoke to Amanda Stowe, the freshman class sponsor. She was willing to help, too. So with their backing, Amanda and I began making phone calls.”

Monetary assistance was imperative.

“I sat down with Stringer, and he walked me through the entire process,” Love said. ”That was President’s Day. The following week, I called Dan Steblay at Best Homes. He said he knew it was a great program, and he invited me to come in and talk to him. I sat down with him a week later. He said, ‘How much money do you need to make this happen?’ I told him the minimum was $1,500 in order to give ourselves the green light to go ahead. He wrote us a check for $1,500.

“We’ve had the green light since then. That was roughly four weeks ago. The program is April 20-21.”

“Shattered Dreams” is usually pieced together over a period of six to eight months.

“So we’re in a pinch,” Goleman said.

Part of the pinch is finding a speaker.

“Sometimes, the cost puts some of the speakers out of reach,” Goleman said.

“We need somebody who will really impact the students,” Love said. “I have a list of possible speakers. I’ve contacted six so far, but only one responded and said no. We have one person in mind, a guy who went on spring break with his buddies when he was a senior in college. They all got drunk. The one who was least drunk was supposed to be the designated driver. This guy drove, and there was an accident. The driver lives, and all of his buddies died.”

“Shattered Dreams” is best suited to high school seniors preparing for a prom night or graduation night outing.

“It’s for grades 10 through 12,” Goleman said. “The district is wanting us to include freshmen this year. One problem we have is a space issue, and there are around 750 freshmen. It’s tough to throw that many in the mix. But on a three-year rotation, they’ll have the program as seniors.”

Students participate by invitation.

“We send nomination forms to teachers,” Love said, “and teachers nominate students who are either at-risk or have a wide circle of influence with other kids. We meet with the students and tell them they’ve been nominated. In order for them to participate, their parents have to come to a meeting for parents only. We walk them through the program so they understand what’s going to happen.

“If the parents are willing to participate, that’s when we give them a deadline to turn in a mock obituary with pictures on their son or daughter. Then they turn in all the necessary paperwork and permission slips.”

The accident scene requires a victim or victims. Students are chosen to simulate death.

“If the parents’ child is chosen to die,” Love said, “the parents are notified by an officer at their place of business. The kids who ‘died’ don’t go home that night. They go to a retreat.”

The most emotional portion of the programs generally occurs the next day.

“The ones who ‘died’ come back to school for the assembly,” Love said. “They’re reunited with their parents.”

“I don’t know that we’ll be able to put on a program as extravagant as what Stringer put together three years ago,” Goleman said, “but with Carly’s efforts, and those of the people behind her, I think it will be a successful program.”

For information or to donate to the program, contact Carly Love through Burleson High School at 817-225-5071.