Trucker Buddy News

Driver Dedicated to Students’ Safety and Learning

Esmeralda, a fourth-grade student in Milwaukee, nominated Randy Kelley for the Trucker Bud-dy driver of the month award because, in addition to teaching the students about trucking, “he helps us prepare for the cold so we
can be warm.”
Esmeralda and her classmates at Alexander Mitchell Integrated Arts Elementary School were studying the United States and found Mr. Kelley’s postcards from across the country to be helpful
in their lessons. Another student, Gabrielle, appreciated the rocks they received when they were learning about
the geology of Earth.
The students’ teacher, Laura Wied-enhoeft, who has been matched with Randy Kelley for six years, says that many of the students in her class have had brothers or sisters who also corresponded with Trucker Buddy Randy. In her nomination letter, she complimented the driver on his dedication to the class’s safety and learning. “He ex-plained about the trucker’s ‘blind spot’ and about wide turns,” she said. “He
has told them how important reading,
math and writing is in every job.”
Trucker Buddy Randy lives in Tor-rington, WY and is a company driver for Central Refrigerated Services of Salt Lake City. He is one of nearly 4,000 professional drivers who share their time with elementary classes around the world. The only criteria to be a Trucker Buddy is to be a truck driver willing to send a postcard each week to a class in grades two through eight. Drivers and teachers can learn more about the program by visiting www.truckerbuddy.org or calling
1-800-MY BUDDY.
Randy Kelley will receive a personalized jacket, along with a check for $300 to spend on his class and $200 in Trucker Buddy merchandise. Both Pro Trucker and Over the Road magazines are proud sponsors of the Trucker
Buddy program.