SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2016
9 A
Call to artists for OPB New driving school opens in Florence
Instructor Rob Griffes to offer teens accredited safe driving course
art display with FRAA
Oregon Pacific Bank ( OPB)
is in partnership with the
Florence Regional Arts Alliance
(FRAA) in requesting proposals
for artwork to be placed on the
south wall inside the OPB
branch, 1355 Highway 101, in
Florence.
This location provides high
visibility to all customers and
visitors to the bank.
The space is 12 feet across
and 42 inches high. Artwork can
be of any medium.
Artwork can be either one
piece to fill the space, a mural or
a series of pieces. If a mural
design is submitted, it must be
done on panels that can be
adhered to the wall.
All artwork submitted must
be “Wall-Ready,” i.e. includes
hangers or brackets.
Artwork will depict the local
scenery and should include at
least some or all of the following
elements: the Siuslaw Bridge,
the Siuslaw River and the Old
Town “scene” (galleries, restau-
rants, shops, etc.)
Artwork should be done in
colors that are compatible with
the décor inside the bank.
Submissions should include a
resume of the artist, including
references.
They should include exam-
ples of previous finished work.
Submissions will include a
color visual representation of
their proposal in PDF or JPG
format.
All submissions must be
emailed with the following
information to be considered eli-
gible: Full name, address, email
address, phone number and the
medium they will be using.
By submitting a proposal,
artist agrees and warrants that
artwork is original and unique.
Submissions should be sent
to: fraaoregon@gmail.com and
the deadline is Monday, June 20,
at 5 p.m.
The final selection will be
announced by June 27.
The selected artwork will be
purchased from the artist for a
final price of $1,800 and the
design and finished piece will
become and remain the exclu-
sive property of Oregon Pacific
Bank. Submissions not selected
remain the sole property of the
artist.
Artist is responsible for deliv-
ering the finished piece to the
designated site no later than
Aug. 8. At that time, ownership
of the piece will transfer from
the artist to Oregon Pacific Bank
and final payment will be made.
A complete copy of this
notice is also available online at
www.fraaoregon.org.
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B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
Rob Griffes is teaching his
first Oregon Department of
Transportation (ODOT) and
Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) 10-week certified driv-
er education course to seven
Siuslaw High School students.
Griffes, 60, is one of fewer
than a dozen driver education
instructors in Oregon to be cer-
tified by both government
agencies.
Driving has always played a
major role in Griffes’ life. He
spent 13 years driving cab and
has been a substitute bus driver
for the Siuslaw School District
for 11 years. He also spent
many years driving various
trucks.
“I have two teenage sons,”
Griffes said. “When my oldest
turned 15 and got his permit in
2012, I became acutely aware
of the fact that there was no
driver education this side of
Eugene.”
About the same time, he dis-
covered that ODOT was offer-
ing a driving instructor course
through Lane Community
College (LCC) in Eugene for
the first time in years.
After being trained and certi-
fied as an ODOT licensed
instructor, Griffes spoke with
the school district. The district
was supportive, but did not
want the course to be part of
school curriculum. This pre-
sented another hurdle for
Griffes. He now had to start his
own driving school in order to
teach driver education.
“I had to become an ODOT
approved instructor and then I
had to become DMV certified
as a commercial driver training
school. I also had to be certi-
fied as an instructor in my
school,” he said.
The last of the government
requirements were completed
and Griffes received his final
JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS
Rob Griffes offers ODOT-certified drivers education to Florence students. Griffes is the
only driver education instructor in western Lane County.
certification at the end of
March.
“I can teach anyone ages 15
to 100 how to drive,” Griffes
said. “My goal was to be able
to teach high school teens. I
spoke with the district and they
offered me a classroom to teach
drivers education.”
Griffes first driver’s educa-
tion class of seven students
began the middle of April,
using ODOT supplied curricu-
lum.
“I have 15 two-hour classes
and six two-hour drives with
two students for each drive.
The final drive will be another
half-hour of driving,” Griffes
said.
ODOT requires the course
take at least 35 days, but no
longer than 180 to complete.
“There is an additional five
hours of home practice. The
complete course is 47 hours
between classroom, driving
and home practice. DMV
requires an additional 50 hours
of driving practice with an
adult 21 years or older that has
had a driver’s license for at
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an education program offered by the alzheimer’s association
least three years. The five
hours of home-practice driving
applies to the 50 hours,”
Griffes explained.
Without the ODOT course,
DMV requires drivers to prove
they have had 100 hours of
supervised practice driving.
The cost of the course is
$400, but ODOT offers a sub-
sidy of up to $210. The rebate
is available to any student who
completes the course, pass or
fail.
In addition, according to
Griffes, the high school
Twilight after-school program
has a scholarship available for
the driver education program
that could cover the remaining
$200.
“With the ODOT subsidy
and the Twilight scholarship
the program could end up
being of no cost to the stu-
dents,” Griffes said.
“Most people think of the
insurance discount savings, but
some of the hidden savings are
that students who go through
an approved program have a 20
to 25 percent less likelihood of
getting tickets and getting into
accidents,” Griffes said. “As
soon as a teen has a ticket or
any kind of insurance claim,
that affects their insurance
rates.”
According to Griffes, nation
wide, car accidents are the No.
2 cause of unintended teenage
deaths.
“Teaching your child to
drive can be a very stressful
experience,” Griffes said.
He has a specially equipped
education car with a dual set of
break pedals.
“I can take control of the
vehicle at any point if neces-
sary, and I’ve had to do it,” he
said.
Eventually Griffes hopes to
drop the part-time bus driving
and concentrate on his driving
school and his primary job —
being pastor of the Florence
Evangelical Church.
He also would like to teach
three courses a year with up to
15 students per course.
“I have a passion for driving
and a heart for young people,”
Griffes said.
School
munity and in community
groups, always keeping an
open line of communication,
and making every effort to
build bridges with our commu-
nity partners,” Butler said.
Angal will retire June 30.
Current Siuslaw Middle School
Principal Andy Grzeskowiak
will take over as district superin-
tendent July 1, 2016.
from 1A
Angal also achieved an
“accomplished” rating of 3.55
in making progress in each of
the five district goals estab-
lished by the board for the
2015-16 school year.
“Superintendent
Angal
worked well within our com-
Invest
from 1A
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The Willamette Angels
Conference will feature five
finalists who will compete in the
Launch Stage on May 12.
“It provides an opportunity
for younger companies to gain
invaluable experience, training
and exposure,” said Angels
Conference fund manager Marc
Manley.
The finalists include Lofoodal
(Lofoodal.com) from Florence,
Lola’s Fruit Shrubs (lolasfruit
shrubs.com) from Eugene, Great
Life by Lucinda (greatlifeby
lucinda.com) from Depoe Bay,
The
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(curriculumproject.com) from
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and
Animosa
(animosa.co) from Eugene.
At the conference, each
Launch Stage company will
deliver a three-minute pitch, and
an audience vote will determine
which company walks away
with $2,500 from Palo Alto
Software. Five companies in the
next stage will also compete for
investments.
Brought to you by this newspaper in partnership with
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