Mani Sondhi, the owner and operator of Local Driving School, is the most experienced professional of the Local Driving team. He has taught drivers training for fourteen years, and is a DMV licensed traffic school instructor. Mani, perhaps more than anyone else, sees his work as a service to society. He is passionate about teaching students to be safe, wise, and courteous drivers, as well as helping new drivers earn their license. He is a defensive driving professional, and has taught driving across Northern California, including the Bay Area. Mani grew up in Yuba City, CA, studied at San Francisco State University, and worked as a driving instructor while majoring in businesses. Mani has partnered Local Driving with “Donate Life California”, offers free driving education to adults every year, and has raised awareness about traffic safety in his local community. A few of Mani’s hobbies include traveling and playing tennis.
Joti Sondhi
Joti is Mani’s wife, and joined her husband in teaching driving several years ago. She is patient, kind, and knowledgeable. She encourages her students to be both attentive and confident, and enjoys helping drivers in her community be safe. As a mother of two wonderful children, she knows how important safe driving is. She enjoys working with students from India, as she is bilingual in both English and Punjabi, and loves working alongside her husband for their family. She has a degree in Computer Science, and is also attending classes at Yuba College to improve her academic writing. On days when not teaching driving or attending classes, she cares for her children and cooks for her family, as she and Manish take care of their parents at home. On her free time, she loves traveling, reading, playing games, and spending quality time with her husband.
John Alves
John Alves is an instructor at the Bay Area office and lives nearby. He has a BA in psychology from SF State and speaks Spanish fluently, a language he perfected while studying abroad in Argentina. Mr. Alves, as he is known in the classroom, is also a teacher for the West Contra Costa Unified School district and got his renowned patience educating children from all grades in virtually all subjects (including special education). Please tell your son or daughter to turn off their cell phone or he might keep it until they get their license! 😉 Check out his positive reviews on Yelp.
Ricardo Mascorro
A Texas native retired from the United States postal service after 25 years, has been a certified driving instructor since 2011 here at Local Driving School and back home in Texas. Has experience teaching in a classroom setting with Texas teens getting their driver’s education. He speaks fluent English and Spanish. He is always smiling and very friendly. He enjoys listening to tejano and old school music while barbecuing and spending time with his family.
Aliza Anwar
Aliza is the youngest and most outgoing member of Local Driving School. She is our office manager. Most of the students will be going thru her to register, schedule behind the wheel lessons and DMV appointments. She is majoring in business administration. Aliza is the only child, she grew up in Yuba City and lives with her parents. She loves to read, travel, explore new places, go to the gym, and watch movies.
Bill Dagenhart
Bill was born and raised in the state of Maryland. Bill is a new Driving instructor for Local Driving School. He has improved in many different areas of his life. Bill is a father of a daughter (Kenedi), and two boys (Wes and Tim). Bill is very energetic and outgoing and takes control in his abilities. Bill likes to play baseball, softball, and loves teaching driving to new students.
Steve V.
Steve is a very outgoing instructor. He has been teaching students how to drive for the past 5 years. Steve grew up in Lake Tahoe then moved to the Bay Area and attended Diablo Valley College. Steve loves to go snowboarding, spend time with his dog and listen to music.
Vincent Huang
Vincent is our youngest instructor from New York. He was born and raised in Brooklyn. Vincent is currently attending San Francisco State University and his major is Corporate Finance. He has been an instructor for 1 year. Vincent is very outgoing and spontaneous. He loves to travel and go kayaking with friends.
Don Littlejohn
Don has served on the Local Driving team for 10 years, but has been a driving instructor for over fifteen years. He is an experienced professional who sees drivers training as his career. He has many children and grandchildren, which he says helps him understand and communicate with his students. Consequently, he enjoys working with youth, and values his work as a unique opportunity to help society, specifically by training youth to be safe drivers. He was born in Marysville, CA, and is extremely familiar with Yuba-Sutter county. In fact, his family history in the Yuba/Marysville area traces back to the 1860s. On his free time, Don enjoys riding motorcycles and spending time with his family.