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By PHOTO BY SEAN BROWNE
Tom Amicangelo reads through his driving test during a class at Sharon Driving School.
Local school provides teens with the ins and outs of getting their license
By Gina Nero/Correspondent
Fri Feb 02, 2007, 02:10 PM EST
Remember getting your license, the frustration and anxiousness of learning to parallel park and three-point turn? It's a big deal in a teenager's life and Gilli Lavrishina of the Sharon Driving School gets to be a part of this rite of passage every day — literally.
Lavrishina works a full seven days a week between teaching classes, going out on the road with students, and maintaining the day to day aspects of running a business.
"I love teaching people to drive, although in the beginning, I didn't necessarily want to do it," said Lavrishina.
With a marketing degree from UMASS, owning her own driving school developed somewhat organically for her. Lavrishina already had a driving school based in Newton with her father Aleksandr, and upon moving to Sharon, Lavrishina recognized a need in the Sharon area. Ultimately, she opened Sharon Driving School with her father in 2003, conveniently within walking distance of the high school.
"I've enjoyed the years I've spent working with kids. It's a very rewarding field. Getting your license is big and I'm glad to be a part of it," said Lavrishina.
Jill Breitner of Sharon just completed all of her hours at Sharon Driving School and has her driving test scheduled for later in the week.
Breitner was able to get all of her classroom hours under her belt during the summer and just finished her driving and observation hours.
"All of my friends went to Sharon Driving School and all of them passed on their first time. Gilli is going with me on Saturday," said Breitner excitedly and with confidence.
According to Lavrishina, the passing ratio for her students is 98 percent on the first try. This success rate might have something to do with the combination of hard work and the use of good materials. Lavrishina makes it a priority that all of the school' resources are up to date and of the highest quality. Students learn to drive on 2007 Honda Civics, 2007 Toyota Camrys and 2005 Nissan Altimas.
In addition to herself, Lavrishina employs three other instructors to teach classes.
"Good people are hard to find, but once you do, it's worth it," said Lavrishina.
Currently, Lavrishina does very little printed advertising and harvests the bulk of her business through word-of-mouth referrals, but business is thriving. Students come from neighboring cities, such as Canton, Stoughton, and others. Lavrishina estimates that about 500 students come through her doors per year.
Lavrishina's goal for 2007 is to continue expanding. Plans are already in the works to open a driving school in Easton.
According to Breitner, "I learned everything in the driving part of my class, from parallel parking to three point turns, and it's amazing how everything I learned is reflected in real life situations."
To leave students with a confidence when it comes to parallel parking, of all things, is a feat in itself but one that Lavrishina has earned.
