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6 | March 22, 2018 | The Lockport Legend NEWS
lockportlegend.com
Lockport resident looks to lead driving school to the top
Top Driver in Homer
Glen celebrates
ribbon cutting March
13
Jacquelyn Schlabach
Assistant Editor
Top Driver driving school
will be celebrating 15
years of business this year.
Throughout that time, one
thing hasn’t changed — the
proactive approach to teaching
teens how to drive.
“My hopes for this location
is to pretty much be
you know, when someone
says I need to go to a driving
school where do I go, I want
Top Driver to always be at
the top of everyone’s list. I
want people to say, ‘hey my
daughter went to Top Driver
in Homer Glen and they’re
the best driver I know,’” said
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Scott Parrino, Lockport resident
and regional manager at
Top Driver.
With 40 locations in both
Illinois and Michigan, Top
Driver recently had a ribbon
cutting for their Homer Glen
driving school March 13
with members of the Orland
Park Area Chamber of Commerce.
Although it began
offering classes in March
2017, just after officially
opening, about 600 students
have already gone through
their programs in Homer.
“We don’t just teach them
the basics enough to get their
driver’s license, we go beyond
that and we really want
them to be lifelong intelligent
drivers,” Top Driver
owner Paul Zalatoris said.
Parrino said Top Driver
isn’t just around as a business,
but as a service to the
community.
Scott Parrino, Lockport resident and regional manager at
Top Driver (far right) looks on as president of the Orland
Park Area Chamber of Commerce Renee Crews presents a
certificate to Top Driver owner Paul Zalatoris March 13 during
a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Homer Glen location.
PHOTOS BYJacquelyn Schlabach/22nd Century Media
“As a community, a driving
school is pretty important
because when you’re
driving on the roads, you
want the next person at you
at the light, or behind you or
in front of you to have just
Top Driver’s owner and staff join members of the Orland
Park Area Chamber of Commerce for a ribbon cutting.
as good of quality education
in a driving school as we
provide,” Parrino said “We
take a lot of pride and effort
in that.”
Driving instructors go
through eight weeks of training
before teaching on their
own with the students. It’s
similar to a student teaching
program where training
instructors work with those
who are newly hired to have
them shadow and conduct
lessons together.
“We’re always looking at
our instructors and staff and
making sure they’re up to
the latest teaching methods
and so forth,” Zalatoris said.
Jeff Koelsch, who is the
lead instructor at the Homer
Glen location, said the curriculum
they use to teach the
students is up to date.
“It’s a very up to date curriculum,
and it’s safety oriented
and it basically teaches
Please see DRIVING, 16
A CLASSIC
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