By Bruce Wallace

If the fake blood on Spencer Taggart’s head didn’t get the attention of his classmates, his mother’s screams certainly did. The Ashland FFA organized the mock crash on Monday afternoon on Crump Lane on the west side of the high school.

Taggart was situated on the hood of a crashed car, pretending to be a crash fatality. His mother, SoBoCo Primary teacher Kim Taggart, arrived to the wreck as students watched and then listened as she screamed.

“His mom really made it real,” said SoBoCo senior Meagan Barnett.

The mock crash was the first at the high school in five years, organizers said.

“We have been working all school year with MoDot and the Arrive Alive program,” said FFA sponsor Rebekah Hammett. “We have held a safety fair and seat belt check. This is the culmination of that program. We wanted to make students aware of the repercussions of making poor decisions.” Hammett noted that the events were not only about not drinking and driving, but distracted driving, as well as the dangers of texting and driving and the importance of wearing seat belts.

“We hope this makes an impact,” said SoBoCo Principal Dale VanDeven. “When Kim came running out, it made it very real for our students. It just changed it. When they came outside and saw this, they knew it was not a ‘normal assembly,’ but then when Kim came out and shreiked as she saw Spencer, you could see it in the kids’ faces – some got emotional and all of them were focused on what was happening.”