Most high school students dream of going to the prom in a chauffeured limousine.
For Speedway High School senior Zach Ewing, his dream came true " with a twist.
Ewing and his date, Jessica Seffernick, rode to downtown Indianapolis' Columbia Club in a branded H3, courtesy of the U.S. Army's Indy West Recruiting Station. Station Commander Staff Sgt. Kyle Kuta drove the couple to the prom and then to the after-prom party at the high school.
"I couldn't afford a regular limo," Ewing said. "This is pretty awesome."
Kuta worked with the school's administration and gain permission to talk with students about safety on prom night. Kuta developed a pledge that he asked juniors and seniors attending the prom to sign and to talk home to their parents to read and sign. The "Army Strong Anti-Drug and Alcohol Pledge" asked students to promise to conduct themselves by the Army values, to not consume drugs or alcohol and to represent themselves and their school as a future leader.
"Basically, we took the Army Values and used them to illustrate safety on prom night," Kuta said. "The pledge gave us a chance to talk to students about the seriousness of safety."
Once the student signed the pledge, he or she was entered in a drawing to win a ride to the prom in the H3. Kuta and recruiters from the Indy West Recruiting Station talked with students during class presentations and during lunch. There were 65 entries in the drawing at Speedway High School, and 202 students attending the prom.
"When we go into the high schools we love to laugh and joke around with the students," Kuta said. "But when we started talking about how serious it is to be safe on prom night, to not do drugs, to not drink and drive or ride with anyone who has been drinking, the students knew we had changed gears and we were having a serious conversation."
Kuta said that he and the other recruiters in his station talked through each of the Army Values as the students read through them and signed the pledge.
"It gave us a chance to show how the Army Values are incorporated into everyday life," Kuta said.
For example, to illustrate the Army Value of Integrity, the pledge states that students display integrity "by stopping, thinking and saying something if there is an unsafe act occurring."
Kuta spent several years as a military policeman before becoming a recruiter. He has seen firsthand how drinking and driving ruins lives.
"I was a traffic accident investigator, and I've seen my share of DUI (driving under the influence) accidents and fatalities," he said. "I'm able to talk to the students about what those accidents are like and how families are shattered.
"I also tell them what happens when someone is pulled over for DUI. I'm not trying to scare anyone, but I am trying to educate them and be real with them. I remind them that a DUI follows them for the rest of their lives."
Kuta said that the students reacted favorably toward the pledge but reacted more strongly to the stories he told about drinking and driving.
"You can see in their faces that they get it," he said.
School officials liked the idea of the pledge and the chance to win a safe ride to the prom.
"We've done things in the past to emphasize not drinking," said Speedway teacher and prom sponsor Cindy Franklin. "The principal talks to them about being safe and smart, but this is something different. We've never done anything like this, and the kids really looked forward to the drawing."
Speedway principal Tim McRoberts said that kids want to win the ride to the prom because they've already spent a lot of money on prom tickets, outfits, and flowers.
"This doesn't cost them anything," he said. "But more importantly, the kids take this seriously and sign the pledge to be safe."
For Ewing and his family, the safety aspect hit home. Although he wasn't drinking, last year he got lost coming home from prom.
"He called me last year and said 'Mom, I'm by the fairgrounds. I'm lost,'" said Dawn Ewing. "This year, we knew he was in good hands and would be safe."
Dawn Ewing wrote Kuta the Monday following the prom and thanked him for his dedication to keeping her son safe.
The H3 also held special meaning to Zach Ewing and his family. His father, James, retired from the Navy after 23 years of service. Zach's brother-in-law serves in the Navy.
"We're a big military family, and it meant so much to us for Zach to go to the prom in an Army Hummer," Dawn Ewing said. "Zach never made it into the front door the afternoon he won the ride before he started shouting, 'Mom, I won!' It just meant more to him to ride in an Army vehicle than it might have to other kids."
The idea to develop this safety program came from a conversation between Kuta and Sgt. Justin Patzchke, a recruiter at Indy West Recruiting Station, during a visit to Cascade High School in Clayton, Ind.
"We were at a school set-up at Cascade, a school we can only get into about once a month," Kuta said, "and we started brainstorming about how we could get into the school more often. We started talking about what events the school had and how we could work those events."
Patzschke said that when he mentioned the idea of the pledge and the H3 ride to the prom to seniors at Cascade High School, they liked the idea.
"Not only does it help the students because there's no cash out of their pockets, it helps us in the school by showing that we can support the school in different ways," Patzschke said.
Although Patzschke was not able to execute the pledge campaign at Cascade High School this year because of timing, he is already working to make sure the campaign gets started early next year at the school.
"The school can advertise months in advance, such as allowing us to show up at a pep rally where we can promote the campaign," he said. "The feedback I've gotten from the school staff shows me that they like the idea and are pleased to see us doing this."
Overall, the Indy West recruiters promoted the pledge campaign at three high schools this spring and took four couples to the prom, including two couples who rode to their prom in the branded dually pickup truck.
"We had a winner who told us that he promised to go with another couple to the prom," Kuta said. "Since the H3 will only hold one couple, we offered to use the dually, and the kids loved the idea."
Kuta said that the prom safety campaign shows school administrators that the recruiters can do more for students than just "put them in boots."
"It shows that we are here to help counsel and mentor students as well," he said.
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