By Rajvee Patel
ASB is partnering with the company YourDriversEdOnline.com to offer MHS students the driver’s education they need to acquire a permit, Activities Director Jerell Maneja said over a Zoom interview. The program utilizes a variety of online modules to help student-drivers satisfy the hourly state requirement needed to pass the permit test, Maneja added.
Prospective driver’s education students must be at least 15 years old to enroll in the program, ASB Finances and Fundraisers Committee Lead Thomas Chen said. The online program consists of 17 chapters, he added. Once completed, you have to take a 40-question final, and to pass each chapter, you have to get 80 percent or better, Chen said.
“It’s certified by the DMV and when students complete it, they get a certificate,” Chen said. “Juniors and sophomores are in the age where they should be getting a driver’s permit, and so doing driver’s education online and having it promoted at our school can promote earlier awareness for starting the process of getting a driver’s license,” he added.
Having an online format for driver’s education is important, especially during shelter-in-place, because these classes can be taken at the student’s leisure, Maneja said. This is a service that is available year-round, so even if students may want to wait until breaks or over the summer, the program provides that flexibility, he said. If students mention that they are representing Milpitas High School when registering, the school can receive funds for that registration, Maneja added.
“From our standpoint as an organization, we partnered with them largely because they contribute so much back to the school,” Maneja said. “Ultimately, every time a student signs up and registers for the driver’s ed program, they are going to see part of those proceeds come back straight to our school, and so it’s a very positive giveback program,” Maneja added. “We can use those funds to help continue to build activities for the school or lower costs for things like prom.”
For every $25 the company earns through registration fees, ASB receives 40 percent, Chen added.
“I think it’s a pretty good deal for students,” Chen said. “[Instead] of searching around, because there are 40 to 60 dollar programs out there, if you purchase this one, it’s a good deal because you’re helping out our school,” he added.