In her work teaching car maintenance classes through Portland Adult Ed, Cushman offers students a chance to look at everything from basic automotive theory and hands-on familiarity with car parts, to what maintenance their cars actually need and how to budget realistically for car costs. She also covers environmentally-conscious car ownership: the ways cars affect our environment from cradle to grave, how to drive a cleaner car, and ways to consider owning no car, one car, or one less car. Throughout her Adult Ed class experiences she has heard students say over and over, “Why didn’t I learn this years ago when I first started driving?”

Great news! MEEP has contracted with Cushman to offer a menu of presentation options free of charge to high school classes, public and private driving schools, church youth groups, and other interested organizations. The presentations can be tailored to fit the needs of any particular group – and high school classroom sessions can be directly tied to specific Maine Learning Results.

 “Think about when you were growing up,” Cushman comments.  “The average family with teen drivers had one or two cars – now you see families with three to four. Car ownership has grown to such an extent that we view it almost as a right, and certainly as a necessity. We aren’t always able to take a second, hard look at those assumptions – and at our responsibilities.”

For more information or to schedule a presentation for your class, please contact Cushman at sarahcushman@yahoo.com.  Cushman’s presentations are funded through a grant from the DEP Bureau of Air Quality. The Kids and Transportation Programs of York and Cumberland Counties are collaborating with MEEP and DEP to support this initiative.