Trucker Buddy

Bringing Lessons to Life

“If you dream something, you can make it happen,” Kathy Notz tells her Trucker Buddy class in Tulare, SD. She encourages these fifth-grade students in Jan Mur-phy’s class as she helps them learn by bringing geography, math, social studies and history to life. She sends them postcards, letters and gifts as she travels across the country with her husband, Jay, and dog, Cashew.

Kathy is a company driver for Don Drews Trucking and has been corresponding with the Tulare Elementary class since November 2003. Kathy visited the students in January and followed them from classroom to lunchroom and even for their band lessons.

One student, Cami, says Kathy is, “Almost the nicest person I know.” Cami’s classmates certainly agree, and their letters describe Kathy as “cool,” “nice” and “cheerful.”

Teacher Jan Murphy helps the students track Kathy’s travels with an atlas Kathy gave the children. “Each day they will be doing an activity from [the atlas] to learn more about our land and where our buddies are each day,” Ms. Murphy writes. Jan adds that Kathy and her husband travel from coast to coast, and she appreciates their contribution to the class. “Students learn a great deal about the United States while gaining a friendship with their Trucker Buddy,” Ms. Murphy adds.

Kathy and Jay live in Green Bay, WI. Kathy is one of nearly 4,000 professional drivers who share their time with elementary classes throughout the world. The only criteria to be a Trucker Buddy is to be a driver willing to send a postcard each week to a class in grades two through eight. Drivers and teachers can learn more by visiting www.truckerbuddy.org or calling 1-800-MY BUDDY.

Trucker Buddy Kathy will receive a personalized jacket, along with a check for $300 to spend on the class and $200 in Trucker Buddy merchandise. Over the Road and Pro Trucker mag-azines are proud sponsors of the Truck- er Buddy program.