The Menlo School student pictured in a staged car crash on Page 5 of last week's Almanac was participating in Every 15 Minutes, a national program to educate teens about the tragic consequences of drinking and driving.

Especially in this season of proms and graduation celebrations, schools across the country are implementing this program. On the Peninsula, Valley Christian, Sequoia, Gunn and Menlo high schools are just a few examples, and the CHP generously helps underwrite the costs involved.

For high school students stranded without a way to get home safely, the Palo Alto Area Red Cross' Safe Ride program provides confidential and free rides home on Friday and Saturday nights during the school year, 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., in a service area extending between Redwood City and Moffett Field. Qualified and trained students (advised by qualified and trained adults) from eight area high schools operate this service.

This letter was published in the May 9, 2007, issue of the Almanac.