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Empowering Unique Learners
Miriam High School students drive toward independence
Katie Stalter

 

Two high school students give the thumbs up after passing their driver permit test.

You won’t find Driver’s Education in the course booklet at Miriam High School, but teacher Greg Kellerman took it upon himself to make sure students who were interested could start to learn this skill for life.

This spring, 14 Miriam High School students passed the driver’s permit test. Kellerman led a unit during Miriam Essentials time that included on-the-road basics and practice permit tests. Kellerman himself accompanied the students – in small groups – to the license bureau, driven by another teacher in a Miriam van. 

For some students, it took a couple of tries to pass the test. Others haven’t passed yet. But even those students were happy about the experience and feel more confident to retake the test in the future.

Kellerman said he tried to make the lessons fun for the laid-back group. “I found

online practice tests, and we did them together on the smartboard. They had to discuss their thought process for each question and come to a consensus on the answer they wanted to go with,” he said. “If they got it wrong, I would talk them through what the correct answer was, and why.”

The 14 students who passed the test then needed to visit a license bureau again with their parents to have their permits issued. Many have done that, and

Three high school students show that they passed their driver permit test.

even were driving to school with a parent at the end of the school year.

“It was so fun to watch the students pull up behind the wheel with their newly issued permits, and have their parent take over the wheel when they got to school,” said Principal Vicki Thurman.

“They all seemed to get that this was a unit that could result in a tangible benefit for them – and would eventually lead to new responsibilities and independence,” Kellerman said. 

“The number of students who really stepped up to be prepared on testing day surpassed my expectations, and I am thrilled that so many students were rewarded for their hard work.”