Monday, October 23, 2017

A Driven Woman

"I knew it was going to work."


            Estella in Spanish means star. Former Palm Beach County, Fla., educator Estella Pyfrom shines brightly indeed. When Pyfrom, 78, retired after 50 years serving in roles such as teacher, guidance counselor, and summer school principal, she wasn’t ready for a rocking chair.
            Instead, she bought a bus she dubbed “Estella’s Brilliant  us,” remodeled it,
and loaded it with computers. Then she sat in its driver’s seat and started steering it to local neighborhoods where children didn’t have computers for math, reading, or social studies at home or transportation to get to them.
            “Kids call me ‘the gadget lady,’” said Pyfrom. She now has two buses, which she takes on educational field trips to the midwest. “Estella’s Brilliant Bus is a big gadget with a mission on a movement,” she added
            Pyfrom’s not alone in her odyssey. Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Comcast, Office Depot, and dozens of Florida organizations are supporting her efforts. CNN named her a Top 10 Hero in 2013, calling her a “community crusader.”

"I paid for that bus"

            Her goal? “To be able to connect with bus companies that in some way can assist me with this mission.” There’s more: “My destination,” she said, “is to have a bus not just in every city in the U.S. but also across the world.”
            Pyfrom knows all about beating the odds. Her parents were migrant farm workers. She began picking beans alongside them when she was six years old as her family moved from farm to farm, from Florida to New York. Later, her father became a contractor, operating trucks and buses, and that’s how Pyfrom as a youngster learned to handle a big vehicle.
            “I paid for that bus with all my pennies,” she said. “To get the first bus on the road and to continue to move forward, I’ve spent more than a million dollars.” cost has never deterred her.
            “I knew it was going to work,” she explained. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have taken the risk. You have to start out knowing that God is on your side and realize that you’re going to have some temporary setbacks because with God on your side and your own determination, failure is not an option. You are going to make it.”

MORAL: Accelerate.

Buy the book "Courage 101: True Tales of Grit & Glory" at Amazon!

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