Why is this officer pulling over one of our TGS students? What has gone wrong?

Nothing, actually. In fact, something is very right – and unique – in this scenario.

Every Friday at TGS, we hold our Plus One classes. These classes are our equivalent of electives, courses in which our students have more choice about what they learn and which cover their physical education, fine arts, and enrichment credits for graduation.

One of our Plus One courses this quarter is Cars 101, the brain child of our Socio-Academic Program Director Farah Painter. She developed the idea one day when one of our students, who drives two hours round trip to attend TGS, needed to return home in an unexpected snowstorm. She asked him if his car would be safe in the weather. He didn’t know, so she taught him on the spot how to check his oil and otherwise ensure his car was fit for the trip.

With seven seniors on our roster this year and several other students of driving age, Farah realized we should provide some general auto maintenance and safety lessons for them. Thus Cars 101 was born. Taught by volunteer Eric Levinson, Cars 101 is giving our students the opportunity to learn simple car maintenance and other auto-related lessons.

Enter Kip Euler, the officer in the photo above. Kip is a long-time friend of TGS, having taught our Fishing Plus One class a number of times. When not fishing on the banks of a pond or river, Kip serves as a detective in the Boulder Police Department and has experience as a patrol officer. He donned his police uniform for us and ran simulations of pulling our students over on the road, to give them a feeling for what that experience is like and to help them prepare in the event it happens to them.

In addition, our students will develop placards that will help them in case they are pulled over. These placards will include lists of how to behave when an officer approaches their window, what to have on hand (license and registration, please), and a written statement about their neurodiversity to share with that officer.

Wouldn’t we all benefit from an education like that?

It’s this type of ingenuity that makes TGS special as well as collaborative with our community. We hope our students never get pulled over or get a flat tire. But if they do, they’ll be ready!