NEW YORK, July 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Driver education teachers from Kansas and North Carolina have been selected by their peers nationwide as Teachers of Excellence. The honor, with a cash stipend, comes from The National Road Safety Foundation and the American Driver & Traffic Safety Education Association (ADTSEA).
Teacher of Excellence honoree Gary Scott, of Olathe, KS, has been teaching driver education since 1973, in Shawnee Mission, KS, Johnson County Community College and, since 2017, at Johnny Rowlands Driving School in Overland Park, KS. Scott served as president of ADTSEA and currently is secretary/treasurer of the group.
Teacher of Excellence honoree Sandra Dunbar, of Wake Forest, NC, has been teaching since 2017 at Jordan Driving School in Garner, NC. She has been recognized as the outstanding classroom teacher and behind-the-wheel instructor at Jordan Driving School in 2022 and 2019 respectively.
These outstanding teachers we are recognizing represent our best, and they inspire their peers to be passionate and effective teachers of this important life skill,” said Harold Fleming, a past ADTSEA president who heads the selection committee. “We are proud to honor them as the 2023 Teachers of Excellence.”
Both Teachers of Excellence were honored today at the ADTSEA national conference in Wichita,KS, where they presented innovative lesson plans to their peers.
“Driver education teachers are dedicated to the young people they serve and often serve as role models in ways that go far beyond driver training,” said David Reich of The National Road Safety Foundation and a member of the ADTSEA Board of Directors. “These Teachers of Excellence have demonstrated true passion for the important work they do to make driving safely a lifelong experience.”
The Teacher Excellence Awards, given by The National Road Safety Foundation, are 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 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 ten years. For more 65han 60 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, impairment and drowsy driving. The group also sponsors contests for teens in partnership with SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), FCCLA and Scholastic, as well as regional teen contests in partnership with auto shows in Chicago and Detroit. To view and download free programs and for more information, visit www.nrsf.org.
SOURCE The National Road Safety Foundation
