WARREN -- Teaching has been a big part of Jack Lally's life, but these days he's teaching behind the

WARREN -- Teaching has been a big part of Jack Lally's life, but these days he's teaching behind the wheel as well as in the classroom.
Lally owns Town & amp; Country Driving Schools in Warren and Bristolville. Based in Cleveland, Town & amp; Country has eight driving school locations in Northeast Ohio.
A U.S. Army veteran, Lally worked as a truck driver and later as a salesman before deciding to pursue a career in education.
He earned a bachelor's degree in history from Youngstown State University and a master's degree in education from YSU in 1989, and then spent several years teaching social studies in Struthers and substitute teaching at area high schools.
Joins driving school
A decision to supplement his teaching income by working part time as a driving instructor for Town & amp; Country paved the way for him to eventually go into business for himself.
He took a full-time job with the school as a classroom driver's education teacher, eventually becoming a partner in the business. Then, in January 2001, he had an opportunity to buy the Warren and Bristolville locations.
Town & amp; Country offers a variety of programs geared toward making students as safe on the road as possible, Lally said. Among them are a state-run Juvenile Intervention Program, aimed at helping teenagers become safer on the road. The JIP is set up to make young drivers more aware of the dangers of alcohol and to help them drive defensively and rectify mistakes.
"The idea is to intervene before they develop habits that become so ingrained that they become habitual lawbreakers," Lally said.
Recently, Lally began offering defensive driving courses for employers looking for driving instruction for their employees. Classes are set up to encourage cautious driving, he said. Lally has provided the service to three companies since January.
Remedial classes
Town & amp; Country also offers remedial classes for adults who have had their driver's license revoked, as well as a screening process to re-evaluate older people who lost their license.
Lally and his four instructors also teach high-aim steering, which helps students to look beyond their immediate environment. The high-aim technique encourages the driver to look beyond the cars immediately in front and behind him. "If you can anticipate a problem far away, you're less likely to have a conflict with another driver," Lally noted.
Lally said he often lets students practice their skills on the roads on the Canfield Fairgrounds to give them an out-of-the-way place to learn driving techniques. The area allows them to practice backing up a vehicle, driving it into and out of a garage and other maneuvers, he added.
Lally said he wants to open an office in Mahoning County, perhaps next year, and to expand into more high schools.