With a camera in her hand and caps and gowns all around, senior Haley Gregg made final preparations for the filming of an ad sponsored by State Farm.

This production was for the Celebrate My Drive campaign which promotes the Drive 2N2: two eyes on the road and two hands on the wheel.

Car wrecks are the number one killer of teens so this program is an effort to reduce distracted driving and show the importance of driving safely.

Participating in this campaign gives each school a chance to win an Echosmith concert and a $100,000 grant.

Chapman got involved in this video as a way to promote driving safely and as a way to express personal incidents as well.

“(Chapman entered when) Tammy Taylor, Skyler Powell’s mom, came to the district when she saw ads for the Celebrate My Drive Campaign by State Farm,” senior Haley Gregg said. “We all thought it would be a really great idea to share our stories.”

The production also received help from the Mitchell family, which consists of Billy, Missie and William Mitchell who have a story of their own.

In 2007, their two daughters, Carlyn and Chelsey, were involved in a serious car wreck resulting in the loss of Carlyn and severe injuries for Chelsey, who passed away a few years later.

William Mitchell is a senior at CHS and was one of the seniors who participated in this video. He said that he has made peace with what happened, which allowed him to participate in this video.

“This video wasn’t hard for me because I realize that it was their time,” William said.

The filming took place in the Chapman auditorium, which was decorated to look like a graduation ceremony. Many seats were filled with students in graduation gowns, but others were empty.

“The purpose behind the video was to make people understand that when they are driving and not paying attention, you put not only yourself in danger but your life plans,” Gregg said. “You won’t get to graduate, you won’t get to have kids and you won’t get to buy a house. That is something you have to remind yourself every time you get behind the wheel of a vehicle.”

To make this video the best it could possibly be, a lot of preparation went into it, not only by Gregg but also by others as well.

“A lot of quick thinking and planning had to go into making this happen,” Gregg said. “Josten’s loaned William Mitchell’s mother a ton of caps and gowns for the mock graduation scene. (Senior) Taylor Chaney and I had to write the scripts in practically three days and be ready to shoot by the fourth day. It was done incredibly quick to say the least.”

This production went through a process from start to finish.  

“First, we had to sit down and brainstorm in the conference room,” Gregg said. “Once we had two main ideas, we had to start thinking of times that we could film everything and a place Then we finalized the scripts, the times and the meeting places. (District One Curriculum Coordinator) Stephanie Mathis and school officials were really great about getting us actors and everything we needed. We set the time to film, filmed it and edited it all together in a good week and a half.”

Gregg along with Chaney were both recommended to participate by their teacher at Swofford.

“They needed videographers to follow through with the ideas they had, so they went to the Swofford’s multi-media production teacher, Josh Hatchell, to see who he suggested,” Gregg said. “That’s when he gave the names of Taylor Chaney and myself.”