MU High School 's interactive driver education course is available year-round, allowing students to enroll at any time and take up to nine months to finish while working at their own pace, said Kristi Smalley, the school's principal. 

 "Every community has been touched by the loss of young drivers in crashes that could have been prevented," Smalley said. "With many schools no longer able to afford driver education programs, we saw a need to fill that gap for families to ensure their teens are equipped as much as possible to become safe, responsible drivers."

 To prepare students for safe driving before they get behind the wheel, the driver education course teaches them how to operate a car and about rules of the road and other driving basics. They study defensive driving maneuvers and strategies for driving in cities and on highways and rural roads.

 An accompanying DVD features real-life driving videos with multi-angle 3-D graphics and animations that emphasize key aspects of the video clips, Smalley said. The driver education lessons focus on complex driving skills and hazards students will confront while driving. Interactive features also enable students to check and confirm their understanding of important driving concepts as they go through the lessons.

 "Online learning continues to be an efficient tool to extend opportunities to students that otherwise would not be possible," said Carter D. Ward, executive director of the Missouri School Boards' Association and board member of the U.S. Distance Learning Association. "I applaud the University of Missouri High School for recognizing how 'learning by distance' can effectively be used to provide instruction to beginning drivers - wherever they reside in our state or nation."

 For more information, call 1-800-609-3727.

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