With the end of the school year approaching, the annual driver education program is about to begin. Instructors Mr. Greg Bamrick, Mr. Dustin Land and Mr. Pat Fagan are working to make sure the program is as helpful and safe from Covid-19 as possible. 

In order to participate in the program, students need to register online. They must be 15 years old or older at the time of registration. After registration, students must complete a 30-hour online course. Then during the summer, they need to complete six hours of on-the-road driving with an instructor. 

The school has offered a driver education program for its students for more than 30 years. However, over the years, changes have been made. Bamrick said, “We used to do only classroom sessions, but as more and more online options became available, we had fewer kids who wanted to come here for six weeks in the summer to do driver ed. So now we only offer the online program.”

Last year also provided its fair share of changes to the driver ed program. Covid-19 provided challenges in terms of making the program safe for students who wanted to learn how to drive. Bamrick said, “For the driving, we had two students (in a car) at a time, one in the front driving and one in the back. We had Clorox wipes, so every time a student would get finished driving, and it’ll be the same this year, everything is sterilized for that next student to come up. Everybody had masks on, including the instructor.” 

These restrictions will be kept in place this year, despite a drop in Covid-19 cases in Indiana since January. Bamrick said, “We still will sterilize the steering columns, the steering wheel, the whole dashboard (and) the seats before a new student comes in that driver’s seat.”

These Covid-19 restrictions, however, are not stopping students from signing up for the program. According to Bamrick, the number of students is as high as ever. He said, “We were full last year, and right now we’re on pace to fill up again. We can take between 70 and 75 Cathedral students, and right now we’re in the low 50s.”

Registration is still open for the driver education program. Search “drivers-ed” in gocathedral.com to find more information, or see the information in the student newsletter sent out on April 19.