With the school year coming to a close, Chilton County High School juniors and seniors are preparing for the prom, but before the students drive to the Renaissance Hotel in Montgomery, where the prom will be held, District Court Judge Rhonda Hardesty and Assistant District Attorney Brandon Bates spoke to them about staying safe.

The purpose of Wednesday’s assembly was to make the students remember to be safe and make good decisions, said Tammy Hand, a Chilton County High School math teacher who has been prom coordinator for 11 years.

Hardesty went over things to pay attention to when going back and forth to the prom and things that will get you stopped by the police such as speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, drinking and driving and failure to signal.

“Don’t do anything illegal,” said Hardesty. “And pay attention to what you put on Facebook. Lawyers use Facebook in court every day as evidence. Remember when you update your Facebook status you’re telling the whole world, and you are letting burglars know no one is going to be at your home.”

Hardesty went on and spoke about being a leader off the field and being a person of good character.

“Character is defined as what you do when no one is watching,” said Hardesty. “I want you to be leaders and I want you all to be successful.”

Bates shared with the students his first experience of seeing a person who was ejected from a car because they were not wearing a seatbelt to stress to the students how important it is to wear them.
“Be mindful of speeding and traffic violations,” said Bates.

“This was held to get them to definitely understand the consequences of making bad decisions,” said Hand. “And it’s to let them know that they can have fun without drinking or things like that.”