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March 28th, 2024

student driverCourtesy photoELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

Parents looking to have their children take Driver’s Ed will soon have a chance for just that thanks to Liberal High School. 

“The Driver's Ed lottery will be happening soon at Liberal High School, we're doing it as a lottery because so many people were interested in the class,” LHS Attendance Secretary Marina Guereca-Marquez said. “Before we did the lottery, it was on a first come, first serve basis, which ultimately ended up with disappointing a lot of students and parents, so we came up with the lottery system for this time around. Sign-up forms will be available in the LHS counseling office, and we also send forms to the middle schools since 8th graders can also be eligible to take the class. The forms will be available Feb. 6 through 28, the drawing will be March 1, and then the students selected will have to pay the class fee, which is $150 and get to decide whether they want to do the summer session or the fall session that takes place during the school year. Some students prefer not to do the summer session since that's when they travel for vacation and all of that, but the summer session doesn't really last too far into the summer because our teacher, Mr. Dowell, likes to prefer the coursework in May and have all of that done by the time school's out, and then they only drive one week in June, and that schedule is set up between the student and Mr. Dowell. To qualify, students must have at least a 2.0 GPA, be passing all of their classes, and have no more than five unexcused absences. The summer class can have 150 students, and the fall session can have 35 students. The past years I've been helping with it, the summer session hasn't really gotten filled up because Driver's Ed was put on the backburner due to COVID-19, and it wasn't really until this past fall semester when that interest really started picking up again.”

Guereca-Marquez said she hopes to see a lot of sign-ups for this time around. 

“I'm hoping to see more sign-ups definitely with the summer class with things evening out from COVID-19. Our last summer class had about 80 students, which left us with a lot of room, so I'd like to see even more students sign up, maybe around 120 or 130 since we have four teachers actually helping this summer, and like I said, current 8th graders can sign up. This past fall session did fill up, so I expect we'll see that trend continue,” Guereca-Marquez said. “I would recommend the students and their parents pay attention to our announcements because we will be mentioning the Driver's Ed lottery frequently, and we've already put out some information on our social media pages about this coming up. If parents want their children to be part of this, they should be encouraging their children to be passing their classes and keeping up with everything else school-related, because we have seen it happen a few times where parents are ready to sign their student(s) up but then it turns out they have too many absences or they're failing a class. I would remind everyone of the class fee, which is $150, because again, we've seen it a few times where parents are all ready to sign their student(s) up and they didn't realize they would have to pay for class, they thought it was just part of the school. So be sure you can actually pay the fee so you can have your spot secured if your name gets drawn. The class will cover a lot of fundamentals such as properly pulling off turns, the rules of the road and all of that.”

Guereca-Marquez added there are many benefits from taking Driver’s Ed.

“If parents know they won't have the time to dedicate to teaching their children, or if there's some other circumstances preventing that, definitely take this opportunity and get it done over the summer,” Guereca-Marquez said. “The course is pretty extensive and shares a lot of information, and everyone's learning the same things, and Mr. Dowell's a good teacher and is good about being flexible with times. And I would recommend taking it in the summer because not only does the fall course fill up quickly, it also takes up a pretty significant chunk of time, which could cause conflicts as far as what electives a student would want to take. We've already sent out some information on social media, and with that, it's giving parents some more time to consider if Driver's Ed is something they want to sign their child up for, and it lets them talk to their students about what all would be involved. We're getting the word out into the community and like I said earlier, we'll be mentioning this in our morning announcements frequently, so if someone wants to participate, there's no reason why they shouldn't know.”

Guereca-Marquez said she is looking forward to seeing how the lottery sign-ups turn out. 

“I hope we see a lot of the students sign up, and I hope they all learn a lot from the course, there's a lot of information that's going to be shared,” Guereca-Marquez. “I know some parents can be confused after we send out the flyer because they think their child automatically gets their license after completing the course, but this actually gets the students their permit, which is a stepping stone to getting that license. We've already gotten some phone calls to that effect, and I've already had to tell some parents this is to help get your permit and then there's still some guidelines as far as how much time needs to be taken before getting your license. We're excited to see how sign-ups go, we definitely encourage them. If anyone has any questions, they can get in touch with us here at LHS at (620) 604-1200 and we'll be happy to help in whatever way we can.”