Gomes Driver’s Ed School

Kamehameha Schools requires that anyone transporting students for class field trips or extracurricular activities be mini-​bus certified. It doesn’t matter how many times one transports students or if one only uses a sedan or 7-​passenger van … transporting students equals 8 hour certification course.
It’s a great idea, really. Good for the kids, good for the school, good for the driver.
That doesn’t mean I was ready to throw a party at the idea.
Needless to say, I wasn’t very happy that I had to take a 8 hour driving class. So, my attitude going in wasn’t one of complete elation.
As grumpy as I was, I had a great time that day.
I’m positive our driving instructor, Lavaun Le’i, knew people aren’t generally excited to take the class, so he did a great job of cheering us up and reminding us of the importance of our class and the work we do for students.
We spent four hours in the classroom, learning about safety protocols. And this part wasn’t awe-​inspiring.
But when we had to break for lunch, Lavaun asked us where we like eat, and someone said Kahuku shrimp truck, so we went! It was our road experience! The six of us drove a mini-​bus out to Kahuku from Kapālama, and it was unexpected and awesome. It was a great real-​life road test with a great reward out at the shrimp trucks.
Lavaun was the best. His passion really is driving and doing so safely. He translates that perfectly into his instruction. And I hope he trains us again because I’ll definitely look forward to my next training next year.