Dean Coffman Named Outstanding Trucker Buddy
Lori Radtke a teacher at Foothills Christian School in Mount Vernon, Washington and her class has nominated Dean Coffman a driver for Holland Enterprises as an Outstanding Trucker Buddy. Ms. Radtke tells us about Dean and how he has responded to her class.
“My class of kindergarten and first grades would like to nominate Dean Coffman as an Outstanding Trucker Buddy. Dean has won the hearts of my students through his responses to our letters and an in-person visit. When he visited our classroom not only did he help with school work, he also played with the students at recess. Now when we write to him everyone wants to know when he’s coming back, and if he stay for centers, PE and chapel. We enjoy getting his postcards from the different states he is traveling through and have set up a special bulletin board in our classroom is dedicated to his postcards and copies of the emails he sends to us. Dean has a unique talent for helping children feel valued and respected. Yes, he has definitely won our hearts! We are hoping he will receive the Outstanding Trucker Buddy award.”
Trucker Buddy International, an independent, non-profit 501(c) (3) organization, often called the number one trucking image campaign in North America, has helped educate schoolchildren and introduce educators to the trucking industry. This gives them the world through the eyes of a professional truck driver. The Trucker Buddy program helps to educate and mentor schoolchildren via a pen pal relationship between professional truck drivers and children in grades K-8 as supervised by their teachers.
After an extensive screening process, the professional truck drivers are matched with a class and as directed by the teacher, drivers share news about their travels with their class. Students write letters and send pictures to their drivers. Students' skills in reading, writing, geography, mathematics, social studies, and history are enhanced and learning is made fun.
Since 1992, Trucker Buddy International has helped educate over a million schoolchildren and introduced them to caring, compassionate men and women, professional truck drivers. The on-going success of the program is due to driver volunteers, participating teachers and the contributions of sponsors. There is no cost to the drivers or teachers to participate in the program. The Outstanding Teacher Program is sponsored by Daimler Truck Products and includes, Freightliner Trucks, Detroit, Alliance Truck Parts as well as Meritor and Progressive Commercial Insurance. Each class of the teacher receives a gift pack of snacks from Frito-Lay and goodies from Trucker Buddy sponsors. The Trucker Buddy program is funded entirely by sponsorships and donations.