For many, the Marc’s promise assembly made a difference. For some, not so much.
“This is going to be really stupid,” said junior Quinn Puryear as he entered the auditorium March 28. “No one is going to change their mind on drinking and driving based on one assembly.”

   Yet afterward, many were more positive.
“I really liked it because it was someone talking about how they lost someone and how it personally affected him,” said freshman Sarah Turco.
When the first lights dimmed in the auditorium, some students continued to talk through the movie presented in advance of the speaker -- despite the tearful testimonials regarding the death of teen Marc Goldberg. Marc was killed in 2006 in a drunk driving accident on Tufton Avenue in Reisterstown.
The crowd continued to talk and laugh until Neil Goldberg took the microphone and said, “I am Neil Goldberg, and Marc was my son.”

  What followed was silence and then a give and take between Goldberg and the audience, who tried to list all the risky things people do while driving (apply make-up, send text messages, eat).

  Many students found appeal in Goldberg’s focus on common sense talk rather than lecturing.
“I thought it was going to be super serious the whole time, but it wasn’t,” said sophomore Caroline Hill.

   Despite the lighter moments during his presentation, Goldberg finished on a serious note, saying, “This is total devastation to a family. Do not let it happen to you. Do not let it happen to your friends.“ Then he urged students to nudge their parents to attend his evening appearance.

   “ I almost want to tell my parents to come,” sophomore Bella Shin said after, “but my parents aren’t really open to those kinds of things.”
About 60 parents and 10 students attended that presentation, a PTSA source said.