A Highway Patrol trooper took a teen-age driver into custody on murder charges.

And several students left the field in body bags.

Don’t worry though. This accident was only a re-enactment for more than 1,500 students at South Rowan High School Wednesday.

As part of the annual Nationwide Prom Promise, area high schools are encouraging teens to avoid using drugs or alcohol during prom weekend.

Karen Harris, adviser to Raiders Against Drunk Driving at South Rowan, was pleased with the turnout at the re-enactment.

“I saw some really sober faces out there,” Harris said of the student audience. “Some of the kids came up to me afterwards and told me it reminded them of a friend who died in an accident.”

Several local agencies helped with the re-enactment, including Carolinas Medical Center of Charlotte, which provided the helicopter.

“We try to make it as real as possible,” Harris said. After the accident, Harris said the school sent out Nationwide Prom Promise forms for the students to sign.

“Fortunately, the majority of students do not use alcohol or drugs, and most national statistics will support that,” Harris said.

This week is full of events for the South Rowan students.

From free blood-pressure checks to using “drunkbuster goggles,” the students are learning about mental and physical health.

On Friday, a student dressed as the Grim Reaper will put a black armband on one student every 30 minutes, and for the rest of the day those students will remain silent.

“This will help kids remember that every 30 minutes, someone is killed in an alcohol-related crash,” Harris said.

“The staff and our administration are 100 percent behind drug and alcohol awareness” Harris said. “Everyone sees the need to make sure our students are drug- and alcohol-free.”

Reggie and Martha Safrit’s Nationwide Insurance office sponsors South Rowan’s Prom Promise program.

“Nationwide started the Prom Promise about 10 years ago, and we began sponsoring the school eight years ago,” Reggie Safrit said.

“The kids and Mrs. Harris have grabbed the program by the horns,” Safrit said. “We are really proud of them. They did 100 percent of the work.”

Harris said there is no way to count how many kids the alcohol awareness program helps or how many of them take the Prom Promise seriously.

“I think that would have to be an individual thing,” Harris said. “We put the information out there, we talk to students and then after that it is up to them. We hope that with the abundance of information it will make someone think.”

Reggie Safrit said the ultimate goal is to create “positive peer pressure.”

At North Rowan High School, AngieLoflin and Jenny Shirley are organizing the prom and handling Prom Promise.

“I think they are really embracing it,” Loflin said of the students, “because I heard a few of them ask ‘What is this thing I’m getting ready to sign?’”

This morning, North Rowan students watched a drunken-driving scenario on closed circuit television. Loflin said some students put the clip together to show others the repercussions of not drinking and driving.

North Rowan has a standard ritual most teens follow when attending the prom, Loflin said.

“Most go out to eat, and a lot go to Hurley Park around 4 p.m. and have their pictures made. Prom court is around 10:30,” Loflin said. She thinks most kids will stay at the prom throughout the evening.

At Salisbury High School, only juniors and seniors are allowed to attend, and Nancy Foxworth, Prom Promise coordinator, says that is one way of controlling the students.

The week before the prom, Students Against Drunk Driving started hanging Prom Promise posters throughout the school at Salisbury.

On Tuesday, they will sell flowers as a reminder not to drink or use drugs.

Piedmont Behaviorial Healthcare representatives let the students see what it is like to drive drunk with specially made glasses. Thursday is designated for signing Prom Promise forms.

“I hope as this grows that we can pull in other organizations,” Foxworth said. “The biggest thing is a lot of supervision, watching them as they leave.”

Prom Promise coordinators at East and West Rowan high schools couldn’t be reached Wednesday about their Prom Promise activities.

But the ultimate goal is the same throughout the county.