Teachers From Hawaii, Missouri, N. Dakota And Oregon Cited As Teachers Of Excellence By National Driver Ed Teachers Association And The National Road Safety Foundation

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Four driver education teachers from Hawaii, Missouri, North Dakota and Oregon have been selected by their peers to receive the Teacher Excellence Award at the national conference of the American Driver & Traffic Safety Education Association (ADTSEA) here. The Teacher Excellence Awards are given by The National Road Safety Foundation, a non-profit group that creates driver safety education materials and makes them available at no cost to teachers and schools, police, traffic safety advocates and youth organizations. The award is named in memory of Dr. Francis Kenel, a traffic safety engineer, former director of the AAA, author of driver ed teacher training materials and a mentor to countless driver education instructors.

The teachers were chosen by their peers to receive the Teacher Excellence Award, which carries with it a cash stipend. They are Cynthia Bagley, who teaches at Konawaena High School in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii; Allyn Workman of the Parkway-Rockwood Community Education Program in Ellisville, Missouri; Jon Dondoneau, who teaches at Fargo South H.S. in Fargo, North Dakota; and Larry Fairclo, an instructor at Diamond F Driving School in The Dalles, Oregon. 

All four will be honored at a luncheon July 18 at the ADTSEA national conference in Sacramento.

"The teachers selected by their peers as the best of the best demonstrate creativity and enthusiasm in the lifesaving work they do," said David Reich, public relations director of The National Road Safety Foundation and a member of the ADTSEA Board of Directors. "Driving instructors are a dedicated group whose mission is to save lives and prevent needless tragedy by helping young people learn how to drive safely and responsibly. For many, it is a calling more than it is a job."

Winner Cynthia Bagley, a driver ed teacher for ten years, began the driver education program at her school after hearing from many parents who were nervous about their own ability to properly teach their teens to drive. She regularly communicates with students and parents to help them identify aspects of their driving skills that need improvement. She also invites past students to school assemblies where they talk to their peers about ways to be safer drivers. "My hope is to improve students' and parents' driving skills to make our community a safer place to live," she said.

Allyn Workman, who has been teaching for 17 years, was motivated to become a driver ed instructor after he and his wife were involved in a fatal crash. The other driver, who was killed, was unbelted and distracted and ran through a stop sign. Workman often tells the story to his students, to make them aware of the dangers of distracted driving. In addition to teaching, he has served on committees working to advance and extend the reach of driver education throughout Missouri. He has been a facilitator for the state's First Impact program, working to increase parental awareness of teen driving risks and improve understanding of Missouri's GDL laws. He also has been working with state legislators to require driver education for all new licensed drivers, which is not currently mandated in Missouri. "Allyn is an exemplary driver education teacher," said William Whitfield, Jr., Missouri Dept. of Transportation Highway Safety Director. "His unwavering commitment and contributions to improve traffic safety are making a difference in the classroom, community and the state."

While Jon Dondoneau was teaching at a middle school in Fargo, North Dakota, he saw a news story about the number of teen traffic deaths in the state. That, coupled with a personal experience of having an aunt killed by a teen who was driving drunk, pushed him to apply for a job opening as a driver ed teacher. In the five years he's been teaching driving, he has been active beyond the classroom, working to implement that new state driver ed curriculum and develop an online statewide curriculum. He has also developed internet-based lessons as well as ways to make driver ed more exciting to capture the attention of today's social media-savvy young people. He is also pushing at the state level to actively recruit more driver ed teachers. "Bringing driver education into the 21^st Century requires using media that students are familiar with and have a level of comfort," he said.

Larry Fairclo said he became a driver ed teacher 36 years ago, not by his own choice. He was hired as a phys ed teacher in a high school that had only 45 students, and there was no one to teach driver ed. The principal assigned it to "the new guy," Larry recalled. After he moved to another school with a driver ed program, it was cut due to tight budgets. Motivated by traffic safety courses he took from Oregon's Dept. of Transportation, he restored driver ed in the town and developed partnerships with local businesses and the police to help with resources. His classes include taking students for a visit to the local jail to see how DUI offenders are treated. He also coordinates a community awareness project on distracted driving, bringing in partners such as the city council, police and fire departments, principals, teachers and former students. "The impact Larry has on his students is testimony to how an outstanding educator can produce real learning through skillful teaching," said Andrew Hughes, a math teacher at The Dalles High School and whose son was taught to drive by Larry. "Larry communicates and demonstrates the skills and knowledge of driving in a manner that makes all his students feel successful." 

"We are proud to honor these Teachers of Excellence and hope they will inspire others to be passionate and effective teachers of this important life skill," said Rich Hanson, who heads the selection committee for ADTSEA.

The American Driver and Traffic Safety Education is the professional association that represents traffic safety educators throughout the United States. As a national advocate for quality traffic safety education, the group creates and publishes policies and guidelines for driver ed and conducts conferences and workshops for teachers. It was instrumental in creating the new driver education curriculum standard issued recently by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF), a non-profit organization, has supported ADTSEA's Teacher Excellence Awards program for eight years. For more than 50 years, NRSF has created driver education programs and materials for free distribution to teachers, police, traffic safety agencies, youth advocacy groups and others. NRSF has programs on distraction, speed and aggression, drinking and driving, and drowsy driving. The group also sponsors contests for teens in partnership with SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), NOYS, FCCLA and Scholastic, as well as regional teen contests in partnership with auto shows in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, DC. To view and download free programs and for more information, visit www.nrsf.org or www.teenlane.org.

SOURCE The National Road Safety Foundation