By MAUREEN McGUINNESS
Staff Writer
Students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Schenectady are learning mapping skills, geography and letter-writing with the help of a unique volunteer.
Ray Squires is the fifth grade class's "trucker buddy," and he's helped them develop their skills without his ever having stepped foot in the classroom.
Each week, Mr. Squires, a truck driver for Challenger Trucking, sends the class two to four postcards. The class then finds the place on the map and does research on the city.
Traveling man
So far, Mr. Squires has made deliveries in 17 states and driven through 41, as well as Mexico and Canada. He's also sent the class enough postcards and letters to fill a good portion of a scrapbook. The class has had the opportunity to write him once a week as well.
"He takes an interest in what they do," said teacher Terri Ann Petrocci. "They write about a bad day or trouble they had on a test, and he writes back, `Don't get discouraged.' He's a thoughtful guy."
The postcards Mr. Squires sends are thoughtful, she said, in that they usually reflect something interesting or historical about the city he is in. Among the cities the class has learned about are Flagstaff, Arizona; Cortland, New York; New York City; Austin, Texas; and Denver, Colorado.
Road test
Miss Petrocci decided to "adopt a trucker buddy" in order to help her class prepare for the New York State writing test that all fifth graders must take. Through writing letters to Mr. Squires, the students are able to become more expressive on paper, organize their thoughts and become familiar with the writing process.
An added bonus is that the students have learned how to read an atlas, find cities on an index and other mapping skills. The letters the class sends to Mr. Squires are often detailed.
"We take pictures," the teacher said. "It's like a class news."
Mind travels
For each of the 14 students, there is a different favorite city that they have vicariously visited through Mr. Squires. Nicholas Bojarczuk, for example, said the place he was most impressed with was "Austin because there is a famous wrestler who lives there, and I'm a big fan of his."
Curtis Hannah said New York City sounded like the most interesting place to go. "He said in his letter you have to watch your back," Curtis said.
The pupils are interested in learning how long it takes to travel from one state to another. "One time, he was in Denver, and it took him six days to get to Ohio," said Matthew Kinzel.
Hauling freight
According to the students, Mr. Squires has transported such freight as soda cans, light bulbs, soap, yarn and computers. The most interesting item according to many of them was pudding. Said student Julia Zielinski, "When he had the pudding, he could go back and eat one."
The students have learned other things from Mr. Squires as well.
"Traveling is cool and hard," said Curtis. "If you get two tickets, you're out of a job."
Julia said, "He barely gets to go home."
Nicole Naze said she learned "how many places people can go in a short time."
Cross-country questions
Despite all that the students have learned from Mr. Squires in the 57 letters and postcards he's sent, they still have many more questions.
Felicity Wynn wants to know, "Is it fun being on the road, or do you get bored?"
David Billings' question is: "How much does your truck weigh?"