It's a Team's Life
Change a child's life
Over the years we have had three different teachers and have had our current teacher, Stephanie for many years.
Our first teacher was in Saint Louis and lasted a couple of years. During this time, we took the truck to the school and where we in for a surprise as the students treated us like rock stars. It was really amazing and fun to show them our truck. In time though the tests her students
We though knew how much fun this could be and how the students benefited from the program. Next, a teacher from overseas was looking for a Trucker Buddy to help with her
Next and a teacher from France applied and was looking for a Trucker Buddy that would work with email and help her to teach English to her three grades and about 150 students. Well, we took up the challenge and each year it gets better and better. Stephanie is a very interactive teacher and she uses everything I send her to get her students to enjoy learning English.
In 2016 we traveled to Saint-Malo, France to visit with our students and what an amazing trip it was. Stephanie invited us to stay at her house with her family and it was a whirlwind of school and also seeing the sites with her family. While we could not take our truck to France we had the same reaction from these students and also had students who had already graduated come by to see us.
The most humbling experience we had was meeting the parents of our students as the school sponsored an open house. A line was formed and one after another of the parents shared stories of how their students have learned from what we sent them. Some of the parents were very fluent in English and others used their children to communicate with us. They made us realize what a positive influence we were making.
Now in 2018 our teacher and her family are coming to the United States and they are starting their trip in San Francisco and ending in New York City. Some of the trip they will be driving and some will be flying. They, of course, will be spending several days at our house in the Saint Louis area and we will be seeing all of the local sights. The highlight of their trip I believe will be an American Cookout we will have at our house with several friends who over the years have listened to our stories about our Trucker Buddy classes and teacher.
What I do is try and send over a postcard every week from different towns or states we are in. The postcards are usually informative about a city or state bird. Next year I would like to send over more letters with a picture I have taken about something we have done. When possible, I shoot short videos about something we see and send them to the students using
All communication is done through the teacher and each trucker has a background check done before they can become a Trucker Buddy. We have found the rewards of being a Trucker Buddy are really hard to explain as the students really reach out to our hearts. When we see a video of them struggling with English and getting the words right while being videoed I am amazed at how brave they are and hard they try. For us that cannot speak more than one language I sure admire all of the students and especially Stephanie who I believe speaks and write English much better than I do.
If you are interested in becoming a Trucker Buddy check out the website or ask us any questions to learn more.
Bob & Linda Caffee
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters since January 2005
Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;
Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;
Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.