Michael Schueller Named Outstanding Trucker Buddy
Trucker Buddy Michael Schueller, a driver for Alaska West Express based in Anchorage, Alaska, has been named an Outstanding Trucker Buddy following his nomination by Verlene Wilson, a third and fourth grade teacher at Cornerstone Christian Academy located in Post Falls, Idaho.
In her nomination, Ms. Wilson said, “[Michael] has been the Trucker Buddy in my classroom for five years. Faithfully, he has sent over 500 postcards and pictures to the students. He personally writes letters to the kids at least six times per year. Our Trucker Buddy is loved by all,” she said. “He is known for bringing cookies to the class each time he visits. Each year he brings his truck for the students to tour — a highlight of their year. One lucky student gets to honk the horn! We invite him to go on field trips with us, which he does when he is in town.”
Ms. Wilson noted that while Michael has no children of this own, she feels he has adopted her class and has included his wife in his Trucker Buddy activities. “His wonderful wife, who often accompanies him, is now fighting cancer,” Ms. Wilson said.
“In spite of this, he has voiced that he wants to continue to be our Trucker Buddy this year. He deserves to be honored as a special Trucker Buddy.”
Trucker Buddy International, an independent, non-profit 501(c) (3) organization, often called the number one trucking image campaign in North America, helps educate schoolchildren and introduces 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 Grades K-8 students supervised by their teachers.
After an extensive screening process, the professional truck drivers are matched with a class and are directed by a teacher. Drivers share news about their travels with their assigned class while students write letters and send pictures to their classroom driver. 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 Trucker Buddy program is funded entirely by sponsorships and donations. If you would like to make a donation, click here.
Outstanding Trucker Buddy award is sponsored by Freightliner, Detroit, Alliance Parts, Meritor and Progressive Insurance. Trucker Buddy press releases are provided by Conversion Interactive Agency and the American Trucking Associations.