Trucker Buddy

Trucker Buddy news
Husband-wife team present pen pal awards

Albert and Kym Hemerson are matched with Barbara Swalina’s 4th grade class at North Glendale Elementary School in Kirkwood, MO. As Swalina explained in her nomination letter, “Albert and Kym have consistently remained in contact with my students throughout the school year, with each student receiving several personalized pho-to postcards.”
     Albert and Kym took the time to learn about each student’s interests, so that they could better communicate about things the students were interested in. Last year, they came to see each student present an oral biography. Afterwards, each student was given a hat, a tour of the truck and they met “Snow-Toes Lacey,” the Hemersons’ beagle, and had a class picture taken on the running board of the 18-wheeler.
     Parents and other school staff members were invited to take part in a special luncheon that was compliments of the Hemersons. After the lunch, during a special ceremony, Al and Kym presented each student with a framed “Outstanding Pen Pal Trucker Buddy Award.”
     “I truly believe that Al and Kym’s commitment to the Trucker Buddy Program has indeed impacted my students positively and educationally,” Swalina writes. “I also believe my students will hold fond memories because of their participation in the program.”
     “They always encourage people to do the right thing. I thank them for doing all the good things they did,” said one student. Added another, “They want to make me get up every day and go to school. They make school a little more exciting.”
     The Hemersons are among some 3,000 other professional drivers who share their time with elementary classes throughout the world. The only criteria to be a Trucker Buddy is to be a professional truck driver with a CDL who is willing to send a postcard each week to a class in grades two through eight. Drivers and teachers can find out more about the program by visiting www.truckerbuddy.org or calling
1-800-MY-BUDDY.
     Trucker Buddy International is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping educate and mentor schoolchildren via a pen pal relationship between professional truck drivers and children in grades two through eight. Trucker Buddy matches classes of students with professional truck drivers, and every week drivers share news about their travels with their class.