The first coed Class of 1993 attended three funerals for members of the class, the first following the November 28, 1990, death of sophomore Owen Fitzgerald, who suffered a cardiac arrhythmia after collapsing in front of the school. A gifted athlete on the track and basketball teams, Owen was a personable young man, and his death stunned the school.
Then, on November 8, 1992, seniors Adam Powers and Julio Calvo-Perez were killed in a traffic accident on Monterey Boulevard. Alcohol contributed to the accident, and the tragedy served as a heart-breaking wake-up call to the SI community. The counseling department soon began a series of programs designed to educate students and parents about the dangers of drinking. As the school mourned the early deaths of these good men, it also turned a critical eye on itself to see how it could prevent future accidents from occurring. In the years that followed, SI would create a Drug and Alcohol Taskforce, a Community of Concern comprising 43 Northern California schools, an in-house program for drug education and testing, and a breathalyzer policy for school dances. “These programs have been a godsend,” said SI counselor Phyllis Molinelli. “For a long time, we did not focus our efforts in these areas, hoping alcohol abuse wouldn’t be a problem. But these deaths brought the issue to the surface. We are trying to address these issues as matters concerning health, instead of using fear, and students are helping us by telling us what works.”