The Bus Driver Who Taught Children How to Read: Mr. Herman’s Kids

Herman Cruse with a student.

Herman Cruse, a father of five, has been a bus driver for the Middle Township school district since 2013. He started a program called 'Mr. Herman's Kids' to help children with their reading skills. (Image: via Middle Township School District)

Being a bus driver is often a job that most people overlook, but one particular driver decided to use his free time to teach children how to read. Here’s how Mr. Herman helped the children read and their reactions to how he spent his free time teaching them.

Herman Cruse is a bus driver who gets children to school safely and uses his free time to teach children how to read. He has spent hours of his free time teaching many children how to read. The best part is that he volunteered and did this from the goodness of his heart, although initially, he just wanted to kill time.

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Who is Herman Cruse?

Herman Cruse is a Middle Township Elementary School bus driver in Middle Township, New Jersey. Most children know him as Mr. Herman, and as a bus driver, most of his work happens when he picks children up from school and drops them off.

Because of this, he had some free time, which he decided to use to help teach children how to read. Cruse wasn’t a librarian or a teacher, but he decided to volunteer his time between routes as a reading tutor.

When Mr. Herman is not driving a bus in the school district, he's reading to students.
When Mr. Herman is not driving a bus in the school district, he’s reading to students. (Image: via Middle Township School District)

How Herman Cruse started teaching children

It all started with Herman overhearing a child talk to his teacher about how he couldn’t do his reading assignment. At that moment, Cruse thought he could help the child with his reading assignment, which later resulted in him helping other children.

Mr. Herman meets one-on-one with children three days a week for several hours. He meets kindergarteners and first and second graders with his popular “Mr. Herman’s Kids” program. Some children even called him their “best friend,” which Cruse greatly appreciated.

Does Mr. Herman have children of his own?

Mr. Herman reportedly had children of his own. He didn’t just have one, two, three, or four children. He had five children! This meant he had experience with young children and teaching them how to read and other simple school assignments. As a father of five, Mr. Herman didn’t have much trouble dealing with young children.

herman-cruse
Herman Cruse has made it a mission to help kids develop a love of learning. (Image: via Middle Township School District)

The thanks that Mr. Herman gets

The children that Mr. Herman has spent his time teaching have decided to do something to show him their appreciation for his efforts. He was stunned to find students waiting outside to thank him for his hard work.

Mr. Herman shared how he was trying to hold back tears as he was genuinely touched by the moment. Aside from just the children, the school also decided to do something about his contributions by providing him with an official area in the school to read.

The corner is called “Mr. Herman’s Kids Corner,” where he can read with children and teach them how to read. Because of his efforts, Scholastic donated 1,000 books to the school in his honor, giving more books for children to read.

In summary

Mr. Herman is an example of what somebody can do to make a difference in the lives of young children. Aside from being a bus driver, who’s already responsible for their safety, he takes things one step further by teaching them how to read.

Herman Chase shows the world that there are ways to help younger children by volunteering and not necessarily having to have a job in education to teach them. His contributions are essential to developing those young children as reading is one of the most important things they can learn.

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