DRIVER EDUCATION TEACHERS FROM FOUR STATES NAMED TEACHERS OF EXCELLENCE BY NATIONAL ROAD SAFETY FOUNDATION

Selected by their peers at American Driver & Traffic Safety Education Association 

NEW YORK, July 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Driver education teachers from four states have been selected by their peers nationwide as Teachers of Excellence. The honor, with a cash stipend, comes from the National Road Safety Foundation and the American Driver & Traffic Safety Education Association (ADTSEA).  The honorees are Paul McNamara of Fitchburg, MA, Duane Kjono of Thief River Falls, MN, James Carroll of Conrad, MT, and Oscar Outen of Monroe, NC.

Teacher of Excellence honoree Paul McNamara has been a driver education instructor since 2002, and in 2013 co-founded Safe Road Driving Academy in Fitchburg, MA. He has also taught at the Massachusetts Municipal Police Training Academies.     

Teacher of Excellence honoree Duane Kjono has taught driver education for nearly 40 years, in the Goodrich, MN, schools and also at the Northwest Service Cooperative in Thief River Falls, MN.   

James Carroll, Teacher of Excellence, has just completed his 39^th year as a traffic education instructor in the Conrad, MT, School District.  Prior to that, he spent five years as a driver education instructor in the Moore, MT, School District.  He is an adjunct instructor at Montana State University, teaching traffic education instructors. 

Teacher of Excellence honoree Oscar Outen has owned, since 2015, Oscar's Driving School in Monroe, NC., managing seven instructors.  He has long been an active volunteer for programs supporting young people.     

"These outstanding teachers inspire their peers to be passionate and effective teachers of this important lifetime skill," said Harold Fleming, a past ADTSEA president who heads the TEA selection committee. "We are proud to recognize them as our 2025 Teachers of Excellence."

All will be honored this week at the ADTSEA national conference in Billings, MT, where they will present innovative lesson plans to their peers.

"These Teachers of Excellence are dedicated to the young people they serve, and they are role models in ways that go far beyond driver training," said David Reich of The National Road Safety Foundation and a member of the ADTSEA Board of Directors.  "The Teachers of Excellence have a true passion for the important work they do to make driving safely a lifelong experience."

The Teacher Excellence Awards, given by The National Road Safety Foundation, are named in memory of Dr. Francis Kenel, a traffic safety engineer, former director of the AAA, author of driver ed teacher training materials and a mentor to countless driver education instructors.

The American Driver and Traffic Safety Education is the professional association that represents traffic safety educators throughout the United States.  As a national advocate for quality traffic safety education, the group creates and publishes policies and guidelines for driver ed and conducts conferences and workshops for teachers.  It was instrumental in creating the new driver education curriculum standard from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF), a non-profit organization, has supported ADTSEA's Teacher Excellence Awards program for the past 12 years.  For more than 60 years, NRSF has created driver education programs and materials for free distribution to teachers, police, traffic safety agencies, youth advocacy groups and others.  NRSF has programs on distraction, speed and aggression, impairment and drowsy driving.  The group also sponsors contests for teens in partnership with SADD and FCCLA, as well as regional teen contests in partnership with auto shows in Chicago and Detroit.  To view and download free programs and for more information, visit www.nrsf.org.

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SOURCE The National Road Safety Foundation