By LEONARD GRAY

LAPLACE – The student assembly held recently at St. Charles Catholic High School had a few laughs out of the prom-night warnings, but the grim reminders of the possibilities hit home for the students as well.

Get High on Life’s Harold Keller reminded the girls of the perils of prom night.

“Boys lie! I know, I used to be a little boy,” Keller said.

This brought chuckles from the boys and knowing smiles from the girls.

Keller also encouraged the students not to drink alcohol and suggested each young man make a point of thanking his date’s parents for the privilege of escorting the young lady to the festive annual event.

St. Charles Catholic Coach Dustin Melancon, a Lutcher High School 1990 graduate, reminded the students of his best friend, William Zeller of St. Charles Catholic, who was struck and killed by a drunk driver who was still on the road after three DWI tickets.

The pair had been fishing along the road when the car came along and struck Zeller, knocking him into the canal alongside the roadway.

“I can remember his head floating in the water,” Melancon said.

And the students were able to check out the Fatal Vision goggles, which give wearers the impaired vision and lack of balance approximating a drunken state.

Deputy Stephanie Leach, herself on medical leave from active duty with the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, demonstrated the “eye-opening” goggles for the students.

Her perspective also delivered a message as well, as she was injured on the job while dealing with a domestic dispute and was injured by a drugged-out ex-husband who had arrived at his ex-wife’s house.

Leach was so severely injured she had lost the power of speech for a time.

The Fatal Vision goggles provided lots of laughs as well, as students weaved and swayed, attempting to walk a straight line on the gymnasium floor.

However, it was a collection of poster-sized photographs, each one a graphic display of an auto accident with mangled bodies which seemed to particularly hit home with the young people.

While senior Heidi Allbritton pointed at one particularly gruesome photograph, friends, junior Jade Brady and junior Brad Millet, grimaced at the gory accident scene.

The students passed from one horrible photograph to the next and, when the bell rang, the students went to their next class, visibly moved by what they saw.

The SCC prom was held Saturday at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner and school officials said the event went off without a hitch.