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Captured In Photos: Escalon’s Every 15 Minutes
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Serving as the narrator, former longtime San Joaquin County sheriff’s deputy/coroner Chris Stevens kept the crowd informed about what was happening as the crash scene unfolded.

More than three dozen students from Escalon High School, Vista and Gateway Academy took part in the Every 15 Minutes program hosted at Escalon High School on Thursday and Friday, March 12 and 13.

The two-day event turned out to be the last major learning experience for students on the local campuses, as all San Joaquin County schools were shut down after classes on Friday, March 13. A firm reopening date is uncertain at this time due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In the March 18 issue of The Times, we presented a length story and a few photos regarding the realistic drinking and driving crash scenario. Along with the crash scene itself and students being taken out of class the morning of March 12, prior to the staged fatal accident, those students involved have no contact with family or friends until after the completion of the program, nearly 24 hours later. The idea is to drive home the reality of what it would be like to lose a friend or classmate in a drunk driving accident.

The program also brings together a variety of law enforcement and first responder agencies, donating time and expertise to make the incident as real as possible, along with being supported by several businesses and organizations in the community.

This week, we present a scrapbook of photos from the 2020 Every 15 Minutes program.

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Pall bearers bring in one of two caskets for the mock funeral service after losing two classmates in this year’s Every 15 Minutes program.
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Escalon student Eli Lattig embraces his mom, Jenee, after she arrived on the scene of the staged accident on March 12; parents coming to reunite with their children that suffered only minor injuries.
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Set up near the quad area at Escalon High School, the students chosen to participate in this year’s Every 15 Minutes made their own headstones for the graveyard.
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At the staged accident scene on Thursday, March 12, drunk driver David Camacho tries to break away from authorities as his friend Kaden Christensen is taken from the scene on a stretcher. Senior Jack Fitzgerald, the student declared dead at the scene, is shown in foreground, covered with a sheet.