One of the problems within all Drivers Education (DE) events is the availability of instructors for the students who wish to drive on the track. In an effort to increase the ranks of qualified instructors, we decided to conduct an Instructor Clinic at our May DE event at VIR. We’re happy to report great success in bringing new and experienced instructors into the ranks of PCA Nationally Trained DE Instructors.
In early 2010, I contacted Pete Tremper, PCA National DE Chair, who agreed to conduct an Instructor Clinic on the Friday of our May DE. For those PCA members who know Pete, he provides good humor with serious instruction for new and experienced instructors. Pete is a tremendous asset for our PCA members, and he devotes many hours to the success of the PCA DE program throughout the country.
The Instructor Clinic consisted of four classroom sessions and four on-track role play sessions between the Instructor Candidate and Mentor. We also ran an advanced DE day in conjunction with the clinic where advanced drivers were able to get over 2.5 hours of track time. Saturday and Sunday were regular Drivers Education days where the instructors were matched with students. Everyone did a great job with their new student assignments, and zero incidents were reported.
Participation for this Instructor Clinic was very strong. We communicated our event to all Zone 2 regions as well as other car clubs such as BMW. Pete Tremper encourages participation from other car clubs, and approximately 15% of our National Instructors come from other clubs. Participants included 21 Candidates, 25 Mentors, and 26 PCA Mentors. PCA Mentors were matched with the Candidates and then Mentors were matched with each other. At the end of the day with the evaluations complete, 44 individuals successfully attained their National Instructor designation.
Instructors are critical to our PCA program. FSR welcomes these 44 individuals into the National Program, and we also encourage others to work toward attaining this designation. It is a lot of work to instruct others, but it is a very rewarding experience!
