CRANSTON — They were once so much like the teenagers who will begin visiting them this week.

The young men and women now assigned numbers and cells inside the Adult Correctional Institutions remember their lives on the outside, before they drove drunk and injured or killed someone.

The crashes were a result of the choices they made, for some only moments before, and for others after repeated reckless behavior. Their message to the high school students invited to visit them at the John J. Moran Medium Security Facility will be this: Don’t do what we’ve done.

Beginning this week and through next month, high schools from around the state are being encouraged to send their 11th and 12th graders to the ACI for panel sessions led by inmates convicted of drunken-driving, victims or families of victims, and Assistant Attorney General Jay Sullivan, who has handled many of these cases during his 21 years at the attorney general’s office.

During the 1½-hour sessions, held in the visiting room at Moran, the inmates and victims will talk about the impact of drunken-driving on their lives. Sullivan will talk about choices –– you could go to the prom, or you could drink and drive and end up killing your best friend.

The “Zero Fatalities Project” is a collaboration between the Department of Corrections and the attorney general’s office, with the support of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the state Department of Transportation, and the Family Court.

Representatives of the groups gathered outside the medium security building yesterday to announce the project; last week, high school principals around the state were sent letters inviting their schools’ participation.

The timing of the month-long series was chosen to coincide with prom and graduation season.

“We know that spring, with its proms and graduations, are times when the young are particularly vulnerable to drinking and driving,” said A.T. Wall, director of the Department of Corrections. “It’s our desire that we’ll come through this season without any fatalities for reckless driving.”

The inmates who are participating in the session were chosen not only because of their crimes, but because of their youth and ability to relate to the teenagers attending the sessions, Sullivan said.

Some are new to the ACI, and others have been serving years in long sentences for injuring or killing others, said Corrections spokeswoman Tracey Poole.

Inmates will speak to up to 200 students at a time during the week. Schools have already begun booking sessions on Thursdays and Fridays through the end of May, Poole said, and two presentations will be held each Wednesday.

The Department of Corrections is also offering sessions for parents and community groups on Thursday or Sunday evenings.

Principals, teachers and guidance counselors are invited to the inaugural panel presentation at Moran facility’s visiting room tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., to see what the program offers.

Those interested should contact Poole at (401) 462-2609 or by e-mail at tracey.poole@doc.ri.gov

amilkovi@projo.com