All of the instructors at Varsity Driving Academy are DMV Certified. They go through a 60 hour course, live scan finger printing, and a rigorous background check through the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. Mark McKinney makes sure that every individual performs in an exemplary manner. We believe instructing new and previous drivers should always be done with great patience in a positive and safe environment for our driving school.
Ricardo – Instructor
Ricardo is a California Certified Licensed Driving Instructor as well as a Certified School Bus Driver for NMUSD. A combined 11 years of commercial experience, hard work and dedication make him an excellent driver & instructor. Ricardo participates annually in a School Bus Skills competition where he represented his District and won first place in Orange County and third place in the Southern Region last year (2017). This advanced training develops understanding on the importance of continues driver practice and education. It also strengthens Ricardo’s empathy of tackling new challenges, such as a new student learning to drive. Ricardo is bilingual (Spanish & English). Ricardo enjoys Chess, photography, riding his bicycle, walking and road trips.
Pete – Instructor
Pete is a native Californian who has been instructing for over 4 decades. His passion for driving and motor-sports have enabled him to train and help drivers at many levels. He feels new drivers benefit from patient, encouraging and knowledgeable instruction to begin building safe and proper habits from the very start! A lifelong pleasure of driving is a skill to be developed and enjoyed. Modern vehicles require safe drivers with the skills to handle today’s roads and highways. Good habits begin from the very first lesson.
Yolanda – Instructor
Yolanda is a native of California. Driving experience of over 30 years. She has prior teaching and tutoring skills that has prompted her with the patience and diligence in being a valuable driving instructor.
Jeff – Instructor
Jeff is an Orange County native. He is an extremely patient and understanding instructor. He has over 40 years of driving experience and hopes to pass along all of his wisdom to new drivers. He tries to make lessons very informative while also enjoyable for the students.
Jeff – Instructor
Jeff has been driving over 40 years and is native to Orange County . He looks forward to working with new and current drivers. During his lessons having fun while becoming a safe and confident driver is a goal that Jeff sets for all his students. Applying the instruction given during his driving lessons in addition to practice time between teens and parents helps creates a team effort which aids students to become safe defensive drivers.
Travis – Instructor
Travis has been driving for over 20 years. He graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a bachelor’s degree and worked for many years as a substitute teacher. He now has been a driving instructor for over 2 years and enjoys being able to continue guiding students through the correct path daily. Travis considers himself to be very patient, efficient, and positive. Some of his favorite hobbies include sketching and watching blockbuster action films.
Chris – Instructor
Chris has been driving in Southern California for over 40 years. He enjoys teaching his students the responsibilities of being on the road, hoping he can help steer their skills in the right direction. Chris believes his unassuming attitude towards driving has helped keep him and his family safe over the years and looks forward to teaching all students the same. He feels he is rewarded everyday as he sees firsthand the improvement each of his students demonstrates, and wishes them continued success into their future.
Bob – Instructor
Bob has a driving experience of over 50 years. He was honored to be able to speak at local high schools to students with the MADD organization. Bob is a very polite and affable instructor. He enjoys what he does and looks forward to making an impact in every student’s driving lesson journey.
Ann – Instructor
Ann has over 40 years of experience behind the wheel and has been an instructor for over 3 years. During lessons she strives for students to know the responsibility of being on the road. Her main goal is to teach all her students how to safely drive with confidence. Her kindness , patience and encouragement is what her student drivers love about her.
Hong – Instructor
Hong immigrated from Vietnam in 1978 and graduated from Irvine High School in 1978 and went on to attend College for business administration. Hong worked at Oakley for 10 years as a lead supervisor. Besides working at Varsity, Hong currently works for First Student Inc. (School Bus driver) for Anaheim School District for over 8 years and is in the process of obtaining his delegated behind the wheel trainer for a school bus. Being a special education bus driver Hong has a lot of patience, understanding and compassion toward students. He brings his defensive driving skills from being a school bus driver to teaching new students.
Edgar – Instructor
Edgar is an instructor with over seven years of experience. He has a patient teaching style and likes to share his passion for driving with students. Edgar has worked with a diverse range of drivers and prioritizes safety and confidence on the road. His goal is to create responsible and skilled drivers.
Ben- Instructor
Ben has over 15 years of driving experience. He considers himself to be a very patient and positive instructor. He has previously worked driving larger vehicles which has helped him learn the importance of driving safely. One of his goals is to teach students the fundamentals of driving and real life situations. He provides students with reading material and notes to encourage improvement. Ben is bilingual, speaks English and Spanish. He takes on all lessons with a positive approach and looks forward to sharing all his knowledge.
Jay – Instructor
Jay has been driving for over 10 years. Occasionally he drives rally where he has learned to operate both manual and sequential transmissions. The importance of driving cautiously and being able to control every aspect of a vehicle is what he wants to reflect onto students. The love he has for driving has pushed him to teach every skill he knows to students in order to provide a better driving environment for everyone.
Silva – Instructor
Silvia has many years of experience as a coach. She was also previously a school bus driver for over 4 years. She loves to work with and help people. Silvia is a very patient, kind, and informative instructor. Her main objectives are to make sure all students become safe and confident drivers.
Catherine – Instructor
Catherine earned an undergraduate degree in psychology, a Master degree in Theology and another Master degree in Education with Master level studies in Counseling Psychology. The welfare of all people is Catherine’s primary focus and this is demonstrated for her students through her unparalleled driving instruction. She has been a driving instructor for many years now. The transition from teaching adult ESL to becoming a driving instructor was therefore seamless as she continues to enjoy the diversity of her driving students while imparting to them the safety skills they need for defensive and collision-free driving.
Guy – Instructor
Guy was raised in Orange County and has many years of experience behind the wheel. He has also driven buses before as he was a territory manager for one of the largest bus companies in Southern Ca. As an instructor he looks forward to guiding and teaching all students how to become exemplary drivers.
Sean – Instructor
Sean has worked for the state of California for 20 years and currently holds the position as a Heavy Equipment Operator/ Trainer with CalTrans. He also has Class A and M1 licenses. He enjoys being an instructor as well and hopes to pass on the safe driving skills he practices daily on to his students.
Don – Instructor
Don has been in the driving industry for over 30 years and is also a licensed traffic school instructor. He is a very patient instructor who understands the emotional aspects of the driving task. He believes a part of driving is not just learning the mechanics, but also how to be good defensive drivers to handle difficult situations.
Dan – Instructor
Dan has many years of driving experience. He has previously worked in the insurance industry for over 33 years. He is very patient and provides a healthy positive attitude during lessons. Dan enjoys being able to interact with students and pass along his knowledge and experience during lessons.
Sergio – Instructor
Sergio began his career in customer service where he honed his communication, people skills, and resolving challenges. He has over 10 years of driving experience. His strong ability to teach and guide others naturally led him to a career as a driving instructor. He now empowers new drivers to navigate safely on the roads.
Erin – Instructor
