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| The wisdom of the road |
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| Education | |||
| Written by Jesse Trimble | |||
| Wednesday, 10 March 2010 09:00 | |||
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Most of us have precious memories of summer days we spent playing baseball, grilling or hanging out at the pool. But, for a certain few, those precious summer days are spent behind the wheel of a car, learning how to drive. Rich Brown, Louisburg High School librarian and driver’s education instructor, has been putting himself behind the wheel with teenagers for 16 years — he has some stories. For LHS students and eighth-graders interested in taking driver’s ed this summer, the deadline to have applications in and around $200 paid is due Friday. Although Brown has been teaching Wildcats how to drive for the last two years, he’s been in Eudora, Lawrence and Ottawa prior to joining the LHS staff. It was in Eudora one summer that Brown got a full dose of what it takes to be a driver’s ed instructor. Brown said he had decided to take his carload of students to Lawrence on back roads, which were straight but peppered with hills. For the student behind the wheel, Brown said the class was probably one of their first opportunities to drive a car. “Seth screamed,” Brown recalled, “and both of his hands went up in the air and off the wheel. Both feet went straight down on the gas pedal.” Brown laughed and said the teen grabbed his lap next and started scratching. “I just had to reach over and grabbed the wheel,” he added. Apparently the young driver thought a spider had dropped from the ceiling and fallen into his lap — he was deathly afraid of spiders. “I had to smack his leg a couple times and tell him to get his foot off the gas. We probably drove a mile without him realizing what he was doing,” Brown said. “I’ll always remember that.” Brown said LHS sees anywhere from 84 to 100 students that take driver’s ed every summer, split up between he and LHS science teacher Gary Griffin. Two weeks of classroom time at three hours a day, 26 tests total and driving time could equal insurance discounts for students and safer driving. The students are also treated to guest speakers, which include a highway patrolman, railroad employee, an insurance representative and the sheriff or local law enforcement member. “Some students are shocked,” Brown said of insurance costs, “especially if they are paying for it themselves.” He added that driver’s ed courses can ultimately provide discounts through certain insurance providers, as well as making good grades. Since the state’s recent change in driver’s license laws, which require students to obtain a graduated driver’s license before their actual one, Brown said neglecting to take driver’s ed slows down the process of acquiring a full license. Students will also be expected to take eye exams and fill out the state application upon completing the class. From Brown’s experience teaching elsewhere, he said Louisburg cares about its students. “We want the experience for the students to be long enough and to make their experience worth that piece of paper in the end,” he said. Overall, Brown said he thinks a controlled environment is better than anything else. “Students are comfortable with instructors. It keeps them from getting overwhelmed by distractions.” He also said it’s one of the few things students pick up on immediately. “There aren’t a lot of other areas you can see improvement so quickly — from start to finish,” he said. Classes for Louisburg students will begin in June and end in mid-July, with all hours driven going toward their official driver’s license.
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