What’s the Deal? Teachers Behind the Wheel

CRASH! That’s the first thing you might assume happens to someone when they first learn to drive, right? Hitting the curb or braking too hard—maybe even almost backing up into a car right behind you— are the most common driving horror stories you’ve probably heard before. Many people have different funny stories they have when they first sat in the driver’s seat, behind that wheel.

———————————————————— 

Ever asked a teacher personally about their experiences when driving for the first time?

“My instructional driving coach was very strict and when you drove past a stop sign, you’d have to pull over, but instead of pulling over, you’d have to park up ahead,” English teacher Ms, Cannaday said, “I got out of the car and walked up to the stop sign and had to apologize to the stop sign. My instructor kept saying he couldn’t hear me over and over, which only led to me apologizing louder and louder. The worst thing I didn’t notice was that my mom was parked by the crosswalk, watching me while she laughed at me.”

Ms. Parrott, another teacher at Greenway shared her story with driving.

“When I was first learning to drive with a stick shift, I had to learn to drive on hills since my neighborhood was in an area with many hills. This is especially true since you would be stopped in the middle of a hill at a stop sign and then try to start again,” Ms. Parrott said. “Your car would roll backwards, but you’ll have to go forwards along with pushing in/letting out the clutch, gas and be in the correct gear all without peeling out. After making multiple trips around the neighborhood and peeling out multiple times, a lady came out of her house and hollered at me. At the time, it was embarrassing and stressful, but now I think it’s very funny. Driving stick on hills taught me a lot of skills and I ended up really liking to drive with stick shift vehicles.”

Ms. Berg, the dance director here at Greenway, has another story for us!

“Many years ago, I was a student at Greenway. I had an old Dodge pickup truck that was the literal definition of ‘beater’. I had no AC, no power windows, no power steering, a passenger door that wouldn’t open, and a really bad paint job,” Ms. Berg said. “The hood of my truck was so bad that the paint would literally fly off the hood of the truck in huge chunks as I would drive through the student parking lot for all of my classmates to see. Fortunately, about a year later, I saved up enough money for a cheap paint job, but unfortunately, my high school friends still talk about ‘Betty’ and her terrible paint job; I named her of course!”

And now! Presenting, Coach McDonald, the amazing P.E. coach for girls!

“On the road, I misjudged the distance between the car I was driving and the car in front of me and so I hit the back end of that other car at a stop light. Luckily, I was not going fast at all and didn’t do any damage to the cars, but it scared the bejeebers out of me, and I was super nervous the rest of the time while taking my actual Drivers test,” Coach McDonald said. “I ended up passing the driving part of the test, but unfortunately, I didn’t pass the written portion of the test that day, so I didn’t get my license until a week later.”

Those stories truly showcase how Greenway is full of funny and amazing stories! Go ahead and talk to teachers, question them about their first year teaching and such. Here at Greenway, you can do anything to make history or fun memories, like joining clubs or participating in spirit weeks. This is your time to make the most of your years here at Greenway for you to remember forever, just like how these teachers had super interesting stories to tell about driving!