Part of any good wellness initiative is finding ways to remind each other that there is still goodness in the world, even amongst all the difficult things. While coming into contact with these reminders does not fix the underlying bigger problems, the hope is that it gives us a little extra wherewithal to continue to work toward their resolution. To that end, today we share the story of Mr. Herman and his kids.
New Jersey school bus driver Herman Cruse noticed that a kindergartner seemed a little sad and out of sorts during one morning ride to Middle Township Elementary #1. “Bus drivers are the eyes and ears of students when they’re away from home,” said Cruse, 55, who drives students of all ages for Middle Township Public Schools in Cape May Court House, N.J. “We have an uncanny gift to discern what kids are feeling,” he said.
When Cruse asked the kindergartner what was wrong, he said the boy explained that he wasn’t able to complete his reading assignment because his parents were busy with his four siblings at home. It was hard to find one-on-one time to practice reading with his mom or dad, he told Cruse. Cruse said an idea popped into his mind. “I told him, ‘Listen, I have some free time, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to come to the school and read with you,’” he said.
Cruse received permission from the 6-year-old’s teacher, Alex Bakley, to show up at her kindergarten classroom the following week. When he walked in, he said the boy shouted, “Hey, that’s my bus driver!” Herman Cruse has driven a school bus for more than 30 years. He has spent the last nine years driving for Middle Township Public Schools. (Alex Bakley) “We went into a quiet corner and began reading together,” Cruse said. “It was a book called ‘I Like Lunch,’ about a boy who likes sandwiches, a boy who likes apples, a boy who likes cookies and a boy who likes milk. Put it all together and you have lunch.” “So he read to me, I read to him and we read together, and from there, it took on a life of its own,”
Cruse continued. “A second student wanted to read to me, then a third. All these kids were going to the teacher asking, ‘Can I read with Mr. Herman?’” A stranger called. He had photos of her family from the Holocaust era. Almost two years later, Cruse now volunteers to help Bakley’s 18 kindergarten students and another kindergarten class with reading two days a week, and on a third day, he tutors the school’s first- and second-graders. After dropping the kids off at school, of course
Read Mr. Herman’s full story and see pictures of him in action at https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/12/07/bus-driver-reading-herman-cruse/