Sober crowd

Michelle Mosley is the secretary at North Beach Junior/Senior High School, so she sees her only child Nicole at the school every day. Yesterday, she saw Nicole on the hood of a smashed pickup truck. And she saw paramedics working on Nicole. And Nicole going into a hearse. And Nicole in a coffin . . .

It was all part of a “mock” wreck, but, says Michelle, “It was very real.”

The moment tarps were rolled back, to reveal a still, bloodied (fake blood, but looking very real) Nicole sprawled in the wreckage? “That was kind of alike a breath taker,” her mother said. “Even though I knew it wasn’t real, it was still hard to take in.” 

Michelle gave a eulogy at a mock — flowers, pall bearers, a program, organ music, the whole deal — funeral, in the gym. Below: the high school kids, who normally when meeting as a group tend to be a bit rambunctious, were still, hushed and respectful. The sobering event definitely had their attention.