Teacher Excellence Award Given To Four At Driver Ed Teachers’ National Conference

Teachers from Vermont, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Tennessee Get Top National Honor and Recognition from Peers

RALEIGH, NC / ACCESSWIRE / July 14, 2015 / Four driver education teachers have been selected by their peers to receive recognition for teaching excellence at the annual national conference of the American Driver & Traffic Safety Education Association 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.

Chosen by their peers to receive the 2015 Teacher Excellence Award, which carries with it a cash stipend, are Michael Pluta of Chittenden, Vermont, Carlos Stalcup of Gastonia, N.C., Roderick Hull of Plymouth, N.H., and Greg Mangan of Knoxville, Tenn. 

“Driving instructors are a dedicated group who truly care about saving lives and preventing needless tragedy by helping young people learn how to drive safely and responsibly,” said David Reich, public relations director of The National Road Safety Foundation. “The teachers we are honoring are the best of the best, consistently demonstrating creativity and enthusiasm in the important work they do.”

Winner Michael Pluta, who teaches at Mill River Union High School in N. Clarendon, Vermont, has been teaching driver and traffic safety education for five years. He originally saw driver ed as his “backup plan” after returning to teaching from a different career path. He quickly learned that “what we are teaching does, directly and immediately, have an impact and help our community.” He tries to have his classes teach or reinforce other school skills. Zone control, for example, involves physics, and crash material works well with physics, math, biology and life choices.

Carlos Stalcup, who teaches for Gaston Driver Education in Gastonia, N.C., was exposed to driver education during his 25 years as an employee of BellSouth, which he feels has one of the best employee driver education programs. When he retired from the phone company, he decided to share his driver safety knowledge with others. “For the past twelve years” he said, “I have not once regretted my decision.” He tries to help his students understand the decision-making process they will need to use in their judgment and reasoning when behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. “I emphasize that becoming a defensive driver is one of the most important decisions students make as they begin developing their individual driving skills,” he noted.

Roderick Hull, who teaches at Woodsville High School in Woodsville, N.H., has taught driver education since 2007. He’s had jobs involving driving throughout his life, from driving a delivery truck while in high school to driving a bus, a 5-ton truck and, while in the army, a jeep and an armored personnel carrier. While a police officer, his cruiser was struck by a drunk driver and Hull retired on disability. He then drove a shuttle for Plymouth State University until he was recruited to teach driver ed. “Because of what I had gone through at the hands of a drunk driver, I felt if I could do anything to help young people become safe and responsible drivers, I wanted to be part of it,” he said. In addition to teaching, he has been active in advancing the state of driver education by serving as an adjunct faculty member teaching “Introduction to Traffic Safety” in the state’s driver ed teacher certification program and was part of the state’s curriculum development team. He has been an outspoken proponent of stronger GDL laws.

TEA winner Greg Mangan is the founder of Drive 4 Life Academy in Knoxville, which teaches more than 800 students a year. In 2007, after leaving a career in hotel and country club management, he read an article in a car enthusiast magazine about the failure of American driver training. He felt he had been “called” to become a driving teacher, so he spoke with people at private driving schools, took courses, became licensed and formed Drive 4 Life Academy, where he is the lead instructor. He is a frequent speaker at area schools, where he advises parents on how they can work with their teens to become safe, confident and courteous drivers. He often appears on local TV newscasts, discussing teen driving issues.

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.

For more than 50 years, The National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF), a non-profit organization, has created driver education programs for free distribution to schools, police, traffic safety agencies, youth advocacy groups and others. NRSF has programs on speed and aggression, drinking and driving, and drowsy driving. Its newest programs, “Road Buzzed: A Look at Impaired Driving,” “Generation tXt” and “Stay in the Picture”, address impaired and distracted driving and prom and summer driving safety aimed at young people. NRSF also sponsors contests for teens in partnership with SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and Scholastic. To view free programs and for more information, visit www.nrsf.org or www.teenlane.org.

Contact: David Reich, david@reichcommunications.com, 212 573-6000

SOURCE: The National Road Safety Foundation

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