POWAY, Calif. -- A special program aimed at educating teens on the dangers of driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol was held at Poway High School on Tuesday.

School counselor Traci Barker-Balls said substance abuse is not uncommon.

"They're taking from their parents' cabinets, they're taking pills, they're getting it on the streets [and] they're getting it all over the place," she said.

That is why seniors Brooke Stark and Anna Schwab organized the project called "Every 15 Minutes." The name refers to how often someone dies in an alcohol-related crash.

"It's getting [to be] more and more of a problem," Stark said. "It's getting easier to get."

Schwab added, "It's as prevalent at Poway High School as you would expect to find it at any other high school. It's just the fact that the consequences have been more real for us."

In the past few years, five Poway students have left high school early when their lives stopped short.

"One was a drug overdose, one person was shot, one was a murder, one person had a heart failure, and one person died from drinking and driving," said Barker-Balls.

In 2009, cheerleader Veronica Aguirre rolled her car in a drunken driving crash. It occurred after she sent a text message to a friend that said, "I'm hammered." Then in November of last year, a 17-year-old student died in what investigators believe may have been a drug-related shooting.

"That has made this assembly a lot more real for people," Schwab said.

The assembly was also more real for people like California Highway Patrol Officer Art Athans, who has been an officer for 22 years.

"If you could see what my eyes have seen over those 22 years involving teens, it would change your perspective," Athans said.

Through the dramatization, the students were able to see what Athans sees.

"We also are moms and dads," said Athans as he explained what makes teen car crashes so tough. "We have our own families and we can't help but see the faces of our own families when we roll up on these incidents."

Athans hopes the display will mean one less student leaves high school in a Hearse, like the one that took a boy away in the dramatization.