Trucker Buddy News

Trucker Buddy news

Driver, carrier receive an A+

Teacher Sarah Marmara wasn’t sure what to expect when she signed up for the Trucker Buddy program for her 2006-07 class. By the end of the year, she said, “I would highly recommend this program to any teacher, as it continues to be an inspirational awakening for my class, myself, as well as our Trucker Buddy Ray.”
     “Trucker Buddy Ray” is Ray White, and he is matched with Marmara’s 20 fourth-grade students at Adelaide McLaughlin Public School in Oshawa, Ontario. A company driver since 2000 with Liberty Linehaul, White lives in Kitchener, Ontario, with his wife, Jean.
     White is a volunteer with Trucker Buddy, thanks to Liberty Linehaul.
     “We have been involved with this program over the years with various drivers,” says Brian Taylor, president of Liberty Linehaul. “We wanted to stay involved so Teresa Barclay looked through our employee list and picked Ray White. What a great choice that has turned out to be. Ray has put a lot of thought into his interaction with these children.”
     The students track White’s travels throughout Canada and the U.S. on the class map, which makes learning geography fun. White includes trivia questions in his e-mails.
     “Ray is now part of us, and we will never forget how much Ray has taught us. He works really hard finding us a lot of educational methods which are interesting and fun!” write Olivia, Jen, Bailey and Julia in their nomination letter.
     “He sends us cool posters and maps to help us with our social studies. Ray also sends e-mails every other day to tell us where he goes and describes his travels in such details it’s like we are right there with him,” write Jerett, Blake and Kyle.
     When White visited the class with his wife, he addressed important topics such as safety and accepting each other for who they are. The children toured the truck, and the couple treated the children to pizza and drinks.
     “Ray continues to make this an unbelievable experience for both my students and myself,” Marmara adds.
     Each Trucker Buddy Driver of the Month receives a personalized jacket, along with a check for $300 to spend on the class and $200 in Trucker Buddy merchandise, compliments of program sponsor ACS Multi-Media. Drivers. For more information about the program, visit www.truckerbuddy.org or call 1-800-MY-BUDDY.

Photo caption:
Trucker Buddy Ray White and his wife, Jean, visit Sarah Marmara’s fourth-grade class.