DriveStrong, an advanced driver’s course in Dawsonville, has partnered with Kennesaw State to provide valuable industry experience for media relations and marketing students this semester.
KSU students like Eva Oni-Enakhifo and Garrett Pheifer have been working with the program this semester as part of The School of Communication & Media’s The Agency capstone program. DriveStrong is a non-profit that provides courses to teach life-saving driving techniques that are not covered in traditional driver education courses.
Students passing DriveStrong’s pop-up on the Kennesaw Campus Green had the chance to win a free course with the program by snapping a photo with a featured luxury vehicle at the event. This event was the second of the semester, also organized by students in The Agency as a unique opportunity to get real-life experience as a PR agency member.
In contrast to a regular capstone class, Agency students have a semester to develop and execute a full PR campaign. The selection process for The Agency is competitive and provides students with an experience that “creates a testimonial to relay to a future employer,” according to the SOCM website.
“It’s been almost like an internship because we’re working hand-in-hand with the client and it has definitely given me a lot of good experience with things like media relations and typing out pitches,” Pheifer said.
Oni-Enakhifo was the media relations contact for the PR campaign that the group of students organized. She was responsible for connecting the program with media outlets and reaching out to influencers such as Holly Penfold, a KSU ambassador promoting the campaign. Oni-Enakhifo had the opportunity to take a few laps in one of the featured luxury vehicles that the program uses in its courses.
“Me and Vernesha and our other teammate, we also took it. We’ve been driving for six-plus years and even we got something out of the class that we didn’t get out of driver’s ed,” Oni-Enakhifo said.
The program takes drivers to the Atlanta Motor Sports Park in Dawsonville and exposes them to a wide variety of possible on-the-road safety hazards in a safe, controlled setting. Aaron Whitinger, one of the program coaches, takes the passenger seat of DriveStrong vehicles to share his decades of experience in defensive driving with teenagers and experienced drivers looking for a refresher. Whitinger took similar driving courses as a teenager and shared his understanding of how crucial experience is when facing driving hazards.
“I’ve started doing this since I was 15,” he said. “I know from my first driving school that I did, five days after the fact I knew how to slide a car and it already saved me once.” Whitinger has raced professionally since 2016.
The program offers a core-technique Essentials Program, an Advanced Program and private training classes. Both the Essentials and Advanced Program are $335. The private classes range from $575 to $1500 depending on the number of students participating together. More information and a program calendar are available on the DriveStrong website.
