LEETONIA 100% of students keep promise

Even students who were guests from other schools took the Prom Promise.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LEETONIA -- Leetonia High School students kept their Prom Promise.
Leetonia Police Chief John Soldano said for the first time in the seven years his department has participated in Prom Promise activities, there was 100 percent participation from students.
Soldano and Salem Constable Dan Valentine participate in Prom Promise promotions along with student members of Leetonia High School's chapter of Students Against Driving Drunk.
Police urged Leetonia High School students and guests not to use alcohol or drugs during prom festivities, and made a presentation at a special assembly the day before the prom.
Pledges signed
Students signed Prom Promise contracts, pledging not to use alcohol or drugs during prom festivities, then supported their pledges by taking alcohol breath tests.
Soldano and Valentine also attended the prom and offered the breath tests to promgoers. Soldano said all 134 students at the prom and 94 students boarding school buses to attend the after-prom activities at Kent State University all took the voluntary breath tests, and all passed.
"We had several students who were guests and not from Leetonia High School, and even all of them volunteered to be tested," Soldano said.
Soldano said the prom was at The Georgetown in Boardman and the after-prom was at the Kent State University recreation center on the main campus.
The prime time for possible problems with alcohol consumption and students driving drunk is in the nearly two-hour span before the end of the prom and the time students assemble at the high school to board buses for the after prom.
Students remain at the after-prom site until about 5 a.m., but not all who go to the prom go to the after-prom. Soldano said his department, Valentine, the Lisbon post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol and Columbiana County Sheriff's Department all had extra patrols out that night and there were no problems.
Assembly day
During a school assembly April 22, the day before prom night, Soldano, Valentine and Trooper Terry McElroy of the OSHP's Lisbon post presented a Prom Promise program.
Soldano and Valentine explained how the alcohol breath testing is done and what the procedures would be on prom night.
McElroy talked about driving safety and the many activities that can typically distract excited teens while driving. Soldano said McElroy has worked crashes in which teens were killed.
"They are looking at cell phones or playing with the stereo, talking to friends or looking at other cars," Soldano said. "Inattention is a big cause of accidents where teenagers are involved."
Soldano said he and Valentine were pleased with the students' response.
"Our goal as law enforcement officers is to see that everyone arrives home safely after prom activities," he said. "We accomplished that."