New school of thought

Brian Ardoin and his wife Katrina are giving back to the communities that have given so much to them with their new business Top Cop Driving Academy.
The couple’s background as educators along with Brian’s time working for the state police have given these locals the experience needed to properly perform the task of teaching driver’s education courses to those looking to earn their driver’s license.
When it came to creating the curriculum and making their test for the driving academy, Brian said, “The state over sees how you develop the curriculum because there are certain things you have to cover but we still have to develop it and create our test. It is unique to have my wife, who is a teacher, helping make the test because she deals with this all the time and does it well. The state department was very impressed with what we came up with, which was like a good thumbs up for us.”
The curriculum that the Ardoin’s have developed is much different than the curriculum from when they took driver’s ed.
Brian said, “I can remember when you would take driver’s ed. and the instructor would say I need to go pay my bills or I need to go check my cows so come on lets go, and you would just drive them around. You weren’t even required to take a driver’s ed. course when I got my driver’s license, but now that it is mandatory I feel like my wife and I can provide unique perspectives to help people be safer drivers.”
Those unique perspectives that Brian is talking about come from his time working with the Louisiana State Police as a road trooper.
It was through his experiences as a road trooper that Brian developed his passion for providing driving services to people. Brian said, “I have seen so much with all of the crashes I have had to work as a road trooper which has made me eager to make sure people stay safe on the road.”
Brian is also hoping that he and his wife will be able to educate individuals on how to handle smaller problematic situations that people sometimes face as drivers.
“Working with the state police, I have seen so many instances where people don’t even know the proper thing to do if you have a flat or a blowout on a bridge that doesn’t have a shoulder to pull over on. Those situations can be dangerous when you don’t know what to do and we want to be the people that you can trust to tell you how to handle these situations.”
According to Brian, the unique perspective his wife Katrina brings to the table comes from “being a driver herself as well as being a mother of teenagers.”
As parents to four boys of their own, Brian and Katrina are also able to empathize with parents whose children will soon become the driver behind the wheel. Katrina said, “For the parents, we want to do this so that they can have a peace of mind knowing that their kids are going to someone who is going to care about their children. We understand how scary this can be for parents because one of our sons will be taking driver’s ed. very soon.”
Brian and Katrina’s training in a variety of areas has prepared them to properly teach driver’s ed. courses but it is their understanding of Evangeline Parish and the people that live here that has prompted them to start Top Cop Diving Academy here.
Brian said, “In our parish there are not a lot of exceedingly wealthy people and driver’s ed. is pretty expensive. What we wanted to do is try to provide a service for the people to where if they can’t pay the entire amount up front, we can try to work with them to be able to pay it. So many people here do not have driver’s licenses simply because they cannot afford it and we have made it our mission to not let the cost decide whether you get a driver’s license.”
Although their classes have already begun, there is one piece of equipment that has not come in yet that the Ardoin’s are looking forward to having. “Once our driving simulator comes in we will have it in the classroom for the students to learn on. This will give them more preparation for when they start to do their eight hours of supervised driving that is required.”
The costly driving simulator along with the hard work and time that has been spent building a curriculum for their courses, has all been worth it to the Ardoins after seeing the success of their first two classes. Brian said, “The first class was small but we just had our second class on November 21 and it was much larger so we hope that means we will continue to grow.”
Top Cop Driving Academy’s owners have even made signing-up for a course, that will be held at Vidrine Elementary, convenient. People that are interested can visit the Ardoin’s website at www.topcopdrivingacademy.com to see a list of dates that courses will be offered on. You can register on that same website if you find a date perfect for you.
When it comes to why parents should choose Top Cop Driving Academy, Brian said, “We will always teach as if your life depended upon it.”