Teaching driver’s ed and loving it

You may not think it, but teaching driver’s education can be fun.

At least Donald McKillip finds it so.

Maybe that’s why the Lockport Township High School teacher was named the 2023 Illinois High School and College Driver Education Association Teacher of the Year.

“You have your moments, that’s for sure,” McKillip said, acknowledging that the job is not exactly carefree. “Sometimes the moments are just getting out of the parking lot.”

McKillip told the story of an unnamed student who couldn’t be trusted out of the parking lot until a half-hour of practice. Once on the road, the young driver ran the first two stop signs. The car stopped at the third sign only when McKillip hit the brake on his side of the car.

“By day six, he was able to drive the expressway and go anywhere he wanted to go,” McKillip said. “It’s just a lot of encouragement and a lot of patience.”

But fun?

Yes, McKillip said.

“It’s actually fun to drive with the students,” he said. “You’re teaching them, and they’re going to get better.”

That is something McKillip knows after teaching driver’s education for 18 years. The students eventually will get it.

Parents don’t always get it, however. Sometimes driving with him is a relief for students who have been driving with parents who have not gone through the experience of trying to teach a first-time driver.

“I tell the parents that you have to know what your child is capable of and take it at their pace,” McKillip said. “Patience is the key.”

In all his years teaching driver’s education, McKillip has only been in one accident with a student driver.

“It was partially my fault,” McKillip said.

He blames himself for not seeing it coming and preventing it.

Technology is changing how driver’s education is taught.

Cellphones are the top issue, McKillip said. Students are instructed to put the phone where they can’t grab it while driving. Even during classroom instruction, cellphones are put in a plastic box on a desk in the front of the room.

“It’s like taking the cellphone and putting it in the back seat while driving,” McKillip said. “The students today, it’s hard for them to go five minutes without looking at their cellphones.”

Backup cameras in cars also can be a problem.

“It’s hard to tell students that a backup camera is not for backing up,” McKillip said.

Instead, he said, the camera should be used to see what’s behind the vehicle before the driver backs up using his or her own eyes.

“You’d be surprised how many students never take their eyes off the camera and how difficult it is for them to back out of a driveway compared to students who don’t use the camera,” McKillip said.

Another challenge for the driver’s education teacher today is that many students do not want to drive.

“When I grew up, everybody wanted to get their driver’s license,” McKillip said. “With students today, it’s different. Some are eager to get their license. Some want nothing to do with it. They’d rather be somewhere else.”

McKillip said he can at least try to make the experience enjoyable.

“I try to make the experience fun for them and not put too much pressure on them about driving,” he said. “There’s enough of that already.”