FHS PTSO Accident Avoidance classes
Farragut High School Parent-Teacher-Student Organization is offering an opportunity for FHS students to acquire defensive driving skills.
Students are urged to sign up now for the Accident Avoidance Workshop, which will be held Thursday, April 27, Saturday, April 29, and Sunday, April 30, at FHS. The April 27 session would run from 6:24 to 9:54 p.m.
On April 29 and April 30, parents would be divided into groups and do the driving portion of the workshop. Those sessions would run from 7 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and from 1 to 6:15 p.m.
Participants can choose the weekend session that best fits their family’s schedule.
The workshop, led by Jeffrey “Homer” Stillwell, nationally known professional driving instructor, is an AAA-approved defensive driver course for students, Lori Moczadlo, FHS PTSO president, said.
“I think it’s a great program,” Moczadlo added. PTSO also offered the course in November.
“The event was so well received and the safety of the kids such a priority that we have decided to host a spring workshop as well,” she said.
“We decided to sponsor these workshops after three Knox County high school student deaths last year due to automobile accidents and several close calls,” Moczadlo added.
The program does not take the place of the school’s driver’s education training. Instead, she said it goes above and beyond driver’s education and helps students deal with emergency situations and be better prepared “when everything goes wrong.”
“We don’t want any more of our students to become statistics,” she said. “It is our hope that this program will provide students with the skills needed to be the best drivers they can be and to stay safe on the roads.”
Both students and parents can attend the workshop together and use their own vehicles, she said.
“Most insurance companies will offer a discount for both the parent and student for completing this Level 10 defensive driving course,” Moczadlo said.
Any age driver, whether or not she or he has a license or permit, can enroll in the workshop. Cost is $307 for a parent-student team or $347, which includes both parents.
“At least one parent must attend the entire program with the student,” she said.
The course also serves as a fundraiser for the school since some of the proceeds stay in the school and could be used to buy technology, Moczadlo said.
The workshop’s founder, Jeffrey “Homer” Stillwell, a nationally known professional driving instructor, started the program because his daughter died in an accident, she said.
“He didn’t want other parents to get that phone call,” Moczadlo said.
A track announcer with Bristol Motor Speedway, Stillwell spent many years as a suspension system analyst and vehicle-handling specialist with Carerra Racing Shocks world headquarters in Atlanta, Ga.
