Celina, Ohio (7-27-23) – The Mercer County Educational Service Center (ESC) has been awarded a $10,000 Drive to Succeed grant from the Ohio Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Ohio Traffic Safety Office (OTSO), to provide scholarships for students to assist with the cost of Driver’s Education classes. 

Announced via a call for proposals in January 2023, the grant program aims to expand access to teen driver training to low-income populations by providing funding for localized scholarship programs. Completing teen driver training is not only a key safety factor, but also essential to the post-high school success of local students. In the grant application, Sandi Holdheide, ESC Career Navigator, noted that 81% of the 2022 seniors involved in the ESC’s career exploration program were able to successfully complete a Career Plan. Of the students unable to complete a Career Plan, 67% of these students did not have their driver’s license. Cost is one factor, plus the ESC serves rural school districts where there are limited public transportation or privatized options (taxis, Uber or Lyft) available in these remote areas. In addition to the safety concerns regarding unprepared drivers on rural roads, students without a driver’s license are considerably more challenged in observing, interviewing or completing the college search and/or hiring process. 

In addition, the mean travel time to work for Mercer County and Darke County residents is 19.0 and 23.0 minutes, respectively, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/darkecountyohio,mercercountyohio). Our local communities will benefit when these students have transportation access that allows them to work and contribute to our local and state economy.

The funding awarded to the ESC for this purpose is now available, and the ESC will have two years to distribute the dollars in the form of student scholarships. To be eligible to participate, a student must be referred by a school staff member, be under age 18 at the time of application, qualify for Free/Reduced Lunch, have no more than 3 absences from school in one semester, and must write a personal statement (3-5 sentences) to explain their financial need. A parent or guardian must also sign the student application and acknowledge the financial need.

Once all eligibility criteria are verified, the ESC will connect the student to a partnering driving school, and will pay the driver school directly for the scholarship recipients. ESC partner driving schools, identified in the initial grant application, are Capabilities (St. Marys), Driving School by Mel (Celina) and St. Henry Driving School. 

Participating students will be required to pay a $25 cost-sharing deposit, which will be returned to the student upon completion of driver’s education. In addition, students will be required to participate in follow-up surveys from OTSO, to help the department track the effectiveness of the program, identify additional barriers and assess the extent to which the scholarship results in real-life, positive impact for the youth driver recipients.

Interested high school students should contact their school counselor in order to verify eligibility. For questions about the grant program, please contact Sandi Holdheide, ESC Career Navigator, at sandi.holdheide@mercercountyesc.org or 419-586-6628.