Marcellus High School Students Hear Powerful Message on Dangers of Drunk Driving

Marcellus High School hosted guest speaker Marianne Angelillo, who shared her powerful personal story to educate students about the devastating consequences of drunk driving.

Angelillo’s message stems from an unimaginable loss. In 2004, her seventeen-year-old son, Matthew, was killed as a passenger in a high-speed drunk-driving crash in Skaneateles.

Angelillo describes speaking about her loss as “sharing her stones” — a way of carrying the heavy grief she has lived with since that day. The phrase later became the title of the book she wrote about her journey. By sharing her story, Angelillo hopes to both lighten her own burden and prevent other families from experiencing a similar tragedy.

Matthew Angelillo was a student at Skaneateles High School, where he was an honor student and varsity athlete. He hoped to attend the United States Air Force Academy and had already received strong praise for his potential. Outside of school, Matthew enjoyed snowboarding, hunting and fishing, and spending weekends at the family camp. His mother remembers him as a natural leader — intelligent, dedicated and humorous.

Accepting a ride to a party by an intoxicated friend led to devastation for the Angelillo family.

In the years since, Marianne has dedicated her life to educating others about the dangers of impaired driving. For more than two decades, Angelillo has traveled across the country sharing Matthew’s story, serving as an advocate and speaker with the National Safety Council and the New York Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.

“A worse thing than death is to feel purposeless and hopeless after it,” Angelillo told Marcellus High School students.

Through her message, she encourages young people to think carefully about the choices they make and the lasting consequences a single decision can have. She also spoke about the importance of forgiveness, vulnerability and connection, leaving students with a simple but powerful reminder: “When you drink, you don’t think.”

At the conclusion of the presentation, Angelillo spent time speaking one-on-one with students — including Matthew’s niece, who now attends Marcellus High School — continuing the work she set out to do by sharing her stones and ensuring Matthew’s story continues to make a difference.