Curtis Hanson named 2012 Oregon & West-1 Volunteer of the Year

Curtis Hanson, a nine-year Instructor volunteer with AARP-Oregon Driver Safety, Trainer since 2005, and Oregon’s Chief Trainer since June 2010, is the 2012 ADS West-1 Region Volunteer of the Year.
Julie E. Lee, AARP Vice President and Director of Driver Safety announced Hanson’s selection at the March meeting of West-1 and West-2 Chief Trainers, Regional and State Coordinators. Lee and Regional Coordinators Betty Chatburn (W-1) and Bill Isert (W-2) applauded Hanson’s selection.
As the West-1 Regional Volunteer of the Year, Hanson is one of 10 nominees to be considered for the ADS inaugural Michael Seaton Volunteer of the Year recognition.
AARP Driver Safety’s appreciation for volunteers can be traced back to its founder, Michael Seaton, who created the program from his Master’s Thesis. He saw a need for a driving course that addressed the specific needs of older drivers. The program began with AARP, but Michael understood that it continued and prospered because of the volunteers.
The Volunteer of the Year Awards Program begins at the state level with the Volunteer of the Month Award. Those 12 recipients move on to compete for the State Volunteer of the Year Award. The state winners move on to compete in their region for the Regional Volunteer of the Year Award. The 10 regional winners move on to compete for the Michael Seaton Volunteer of the Year Award.
As Chief Trainer, Hanson, along with the Training and Evaluation Team, is responsible for the training of all new Oregon ADS volunteer Instructors and for the annual continuing education of all Oregon ADS volunteers.
In his nine years as an Instructor, Trainer, and leader, Curtis has taught over 100 classes and reached over 1,800 participants. Many of his participants are ‘repeat customers.’ His classroom participant average is 17.8 while the statewide average is 13.5 participants per classroom course.
Curtis is the “go to” person with any traffic law questions from Instructors. Shortly after becoming a Trainer, he assumed the responsibility of researching and providing current information on Oregon Traffic Law changes and interpretations that primarily affect the 50+ target population participants of Oregon’s ADS.
Before Curtis became Chief Trainer, he also assumed the responsibility of researching and updating information from DMV on the Medically-at-Risk program.
Curtis is responsible for the continuing refinement and improvement of the Oregon-developed Instructor Reference Book. The “Blue Book” consists of ADS classroom resources for Instructors. He was also instrumental in the development, research, and writing of the comprehensive Oregon ADS Mentoring Guide.
In recognition of his AARP and community contributions, Curtis was the 2010 Oregon AARP Andrus Award recipient.