(5 of 5)
Mindful of this year's tragedies, Richard Vladovic, administrator of the San Pedro schools, has just had approval from the school board to hire a full-time person to continue special counseling, not only at San Pedro High but at the middle schools in the area as well. Vladovic (San Pedro class of '62) says he would most like to teach children today that "the true measure of success is how you overcome the obstacles. We need to teach youngsters that failure is not permanent. Suicide is, but failure isn't."
It is that finality that Amber's and Alicia's friends, at an age when they think they are immortal, are now left to make sense of, and which they understand--almost. "It was dumb," says Michelle Williams. "They didn't even get a chance to live--to feel how it is to drive, to grow up and have kids. They're probably saying right now how dumb it was."