Immaculate High School Students Learn CHOICES MATTER

"I believe as humans we all make mistakes, but I hope none of you make a mistake as big as the one I did,” said Chris Sandy, Keynote Speaker of the Choices Matter program presented to Immaculate High School students. His big mistake was driving drunk and killing two people in an accident that sent him to prison.

The Choices Matter presentation is one of three drug and alcohol prevention programs offered by Immaculate High School to students and parents as part of the school’s Awareness Program. In the Fall students heard from others who abused substances with perilous results and/or their family members who suffered as a result at the Dare to Discuss seminars sponsored by Community Addiction & Recovery Education & Support (CARES), and there will be a Parents Matter: Drugs, Alcohol, Your Teen and You seminar presented by the Midwestern Connecticut Council of Alcoholism on March 21, open to the public.

Immaculate’s Awareness Program is designed to help students make smart choices and avoid using and abusing substances and alcohol, and assist their parents by providing expert speakers and resources directly to them. “Immaculate High School implemented its Awareness Program because we want students to fully understand that misusing drugs and alcohol will impact their lives forever,” said Mary Maloney, President of Immaculate High School. “These programs are also offered to their parents and the local community. Young people who learn about the risks of drugs and alcohol from their parents are up to 50 percent less likely to use than those who do not,” she added.

Chris Sandy is currently a motivational speaker, author and life coach and has addressed over one million students, parents and military members nationwide to tell his personal story about bad choices and the impact it has made on him and so many others. When Sandy was 22 years old he chose to get in a car after an hour of heavy drinking with some friends. The result of that choice was over eight years in prison for his crime of taking the lives of two people. As part of his probation, Sandy must visit the accident scene and honor his victims.

“The worst consequence of any bad choice is that you have to live with it forever,” he told the student audience. He talked about the pain of knowing he was responsible for two people’s deaths, and how badly it affected their family, his own family and his future. He plead with them to think carefully about the decisions they make during their free time. “I was told by someone I respect that sometimes you make the biggest mistakes when you are having fun, and he was right,” he noted.

Sandy began his role as motivational speaker after being featured in the double EMMY award-winning documentary “Enduring Regret: Chris Sandy’s Living Life After Causing Death.” His program was brought to Immaculate High School by the Connecticut Department of Transportation, who also brought driving simulators and alcohol impairment simulation goggles so that students could experience the impact that .08% alcohol has on reflexes and decision-making.

Immaculate High School is a private, non-profit Catholic college-preparatory institution serving students from 28 communities in Connecticut and New York. Founded in 1962, Immaculate High School also allows students to focus on their spiritual development, personal moral commitments and service to others. Located in Danbury, CT, Immaculate High School is part of the Diocese of Bridgeport’s parochial school system.