Open Road Driving School gives gift cards to all Mid-Prairie seniors

WELLMAN - Teachers of all kinds are missing their students this school year and that includes Driver's Ed instructors. Ryan and Jenny Turner, co-owners of Open Road Driving School, decided to give out gift cards to all Mid-Prairie seniors to show support during the difficult time.

'Everyone in the community is doing something to give back and we didn't know what we wanted to do. We saw people making masks, we saw people doing grocery delivery and we wanted to do something in the community that would be unique and put a smile on kid's faces,” he said as to why the Turner's decided to give $25 Amazon gift cards to all seniors in the district. 'This is ground zero for us. This is where we live and this is were our community is.”

Seventy-five seniors were awarded the opportunity on Saturday, May 2. Kyleigh Graham was one of those students.

The senior has her sights set on being a teacher and is planning to attend Kirkwood Community College in the fall before transferring to the University of Northern Iowa, she said. Although she was not too upset about the school year being canceled, not being able to celebrate with out of town family was a damper. However, seeing companies like this come together has made a difference, she said.

'I thought it was really amazing of them to do this. It's kind of a big deal because not that many people would go out of their way to do something like this,” she said.

Ryan said a lot of students are not getting graduation parties due to COVID-19 and have encouraged the students to use the money for themselves. Giving back to the community, especially during this time of need, just feels right he said.

'Right now you can turn on the news and you can look anywhere and see there are a lot of people who are hurting and don't see hope and don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our message is that the best is yet to come. If we can just put a smile on these kid's faces, it's worth it,” he said.

His wife, Jenny, agreed, saying this was an opportunity to bless the community that has been god to them.

'As a driver's ed teacher I'm always trying to relate to the kids with my stories and how I teach. So I think to myself, ‘What did these seniors feel like when they can't have graduation parties or people over or they can't have hugs and they can't open gifts,'” she said. 'We just wanted to give a little back to say ‘We honor you, we think about you and you matter to us.'”

Most of the students who arrived at the school Saturday were students she had in class, she said. Getting to see them and give something back to them, albeit four years later, was a great feeling.

'It's good for the mind and it's good to give something back. It's been really neat,” she said.

When senior Hannah Glick found out the school year was canceled, she was less than thrilled.

'I was kind of disappointed and sad because it's my last year. I'm going to miss a lot of the staff. I kind of new it was coming but this is worse than a spring break. This is too long,” she said. 'This is where I see my friends and build relationships with the staff. Over the four years that I've been here, I've loved it.”

However, one thing she loved about her experience at Mid-Prairie was the community support, she said. Seeing the Turner's give out gift cards to all the seniors was just one example of how the community constantly comes together in times of need- something she'll miss when she's gone, she said.

'I am so honored and excited. I feel like our community is the best one out there,” she said.