POMP AND SAFETY; GRADS-TO-BE GET STARK REMINDER OF PERILS ON ROAD.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

As purple caps and gowns were distributed Tuesday to more than 400 teens at the Valencia High School gymnasium, the Class of '98 was asked to do one thing after graduation: stay alive.

To reinforce the point, representatives of the Sheriff's Department and Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital gave each youth a white ribbon pinned to a list of 11 Santa Clarita Valley teen-agers who have died in traffic accidents in the four years that current seniors have been in high school.

``You guys have a long life ahead of you. Please don't let it end on graduation night,'' Deputy Mike Shapiro urged the students in the gym bleachers. ``Next year, when we come talk to the senior class, hopefully none of your names will be on this list.''

Shapiro, a traffic investigator at the sheriff's Santa Clarita Valley station, also visited Saugus High School on Tuesday. Later this week, he will pass out the white ribbons and deliver similar pleas at Hart and Canyon high schools, part of a campaign co-sponsored by the city and the hospital.

Those who live or work in the Santa Clarita Valley are asked to turn on their headlights during the day on June 16 and 17. The gesture, which will coincide with commencement for the local high schools, is meant to remind seniors to drive safely. The grads also are asked to wear the white ribbons on their gowns during the graduation ceremony.

Among the teens who have died in traffic collisions were:

Lauren Blaire, 18, a Saugus High School senior killed Jan. 11 in a collision with a drunk driver at Plum Canyon and Bouquet Canyon roads;

Andrew Pelaez, 12, a Sierra Vista Junior High seventh-grader who was hit by a car at Whites Canyon Road and Stillmore Street last Nov. 26;

Amanda Larson, 15, a Saugus High School student who was hit by a car as she crossed Haskell Canyon Road on March 31, 1997;

Jennifer Dolan, 17, a Saugus High School student who died in a collision at Grandview and Decoro drives on March 8, 1997;

Julie Hutak, 17, a Hart High senior whose car was broadsided by a big rig truck Oct. 9, 1995, in Valencia;

JoKema Dubois and Gena Watkinson, both 15, whose car swerved into oncoming traffic June 1, 1994, on Seco Canyon Road.

``I'm responsible for two of the worst phone calls a parent can get,'' Shapiro said Tuesday. `` `Your child has been killed in a traffic accident' and `Your child is responsible for a fatal traffic collision,' '' he said.

There are no words that can comfort a parent upon hearing news that awful, the deputy said. ``When they see us coming to the door, they know (something horrible) has happened,'' Shapiro added.

Santa Clarita Councilman Frank Ferry, director of student activities at Valencia High, also admonished the grads-to-be during Tuesday's assembly.

``We're not going to have you graduate and then, a few days later, go to one of your friend's funeral,'' Ferry told the students.

``Wear the ribbons. Remember those kids,'' Shapiro added.

Kristin Yarbrough, 18, was among the first to pin the white ribbon on her purple graduation gown. Jennifer Dolan was her friend's sister, and she saw the devastation that death brought to the girl's family, she said.

``Don't be idiots. Just stay alive,'' senior Monique Wilson told her classmates over the loudspeaker.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Valencia High seniors Melina Figueroa, 17, left, and Nicole Nalewajski model caps.

(2--Color) Valencia High seniors are given white ribbons to wear on their gowns in remembrance of the 11 area teens who have died in crashes since 1994.

(3--Color) Deputy Mike Shapiro talks to seniors at Valencia High about the dangers of driving drunk after their coming graduation.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News