More than 700 Duval County high school students recently participated in the fifth annual Stop Teen Underage Drinking "STUD" Rally held at the Morocco Shrine Auditorium.
The rally, which addresses issues like underage drinking and making healthy choices, was sponsored by the Jacksonville Automobile Dealers Association.
During the rally, Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford and Robbie Freitas, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, encouraged students to make positive life decisions and to think about the consequences of their actions.
Officials from the Florida Highway Patrol, State Attorney's Office and a Trauma One doctor from Shands also spoke to students about the legal, financial and medical effects of drunk driving.
After hearing from guest speakers, students went outside for a re-enactment, during which the Jacksonville Fire Rescue, Sheriff's Office, Florida Highway Patrol and Shands Jacksonville Trauma One Unit recreated the scene of a drunk driving accident. Fire trucks, police patrol cars, ambulances and a helicopter were all on-scene to demonstrate the negative consequences of drunk driving.
In addition to the sponsors, many other organizations and individuals contributed toward the rally, including: Firehouse Subs, Duval County Public Schools, Regency Square Mall, Moe's Southwest Grill, Starbucks at Queens Harbor, Calvin Klein at Belk Regency, Peterbrooke Chocolatier, 93.3 The Beat, members of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Gateway Comm., the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco and the National Guard.
Wolfson High School sponsored this year's event and students from their leadership team assisted during the rally.
More pictures from the "STUD" Rally are available on the
DCPS' flickr photostream.
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