At age 78, Estella Pyfrom made her Super Bowl debut in the third quarter Sunday.

The retired teacher’s Brilliant Bus, a computer lab on wheels, and a bus load of Pahokee students got a very pricey 60 seconds in the most watched airtime of the year, courtesy of Microsoft.

“We are extremely pleased. We are happy to play a part to make her Brilliant Bus even more brilliant,” Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said.

Pyfrom, who taught in Palm Beach County schools for 50 years, was pleased too.

She has invested her entire retirement savings and more – a sum that exceeds $1 million — in her endeavor to bring technology to kids who don’t have it. Along the way, her work has been recognized by local business leaders, CNN, even the White House.

Work began a couple of months ago on the advertisement that was shot in Palm Beach County.

“My family always has a Super Bowl party and I usually find something else to do,” Pyfrom admits. But not this time. Instead, she was filled with anxiety heading into the third quarter knowing that her moment was coming and worrying that the incessant phone rings and text message pings would distract in the critical moment.

“It was crazy, but in a good way,” Pyfrom said from her home in suburban West Palm Beach.

The spot is narrated by rapper Common, who is reciting passages from speeches by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
“The real question that needs to be asked as well as answered is what is it that we can do that is unique, that is impactful,” Common says.

And then, “This is Estella Pyfrom and this is my Brilliant Bus. … I had an idea. A bus that brings technology to the kids that need it most …”

Pyfrom sought help to make that dream a reality. That help included a $67,000 grant she got two years ago from Microsoft’s YouthSpark program.

“We’ve been following her ever since,” Gellos said.

When the opportunity came to pick some of Microsoft’s best work in that vein, she was an obvious choice, Gellos said.

“Hers is a perfect example of how technology can really help folks and the idea someone would be able to set up something like this is great — an example of what everyone should want to do, ” Gellos said.

Pyfrom wants to do more.

She estimates she’s reached more than 60,000 children and is shooting for a million by the end of 2015. The bus is on the road four days a week from Riviera Beach to Lake Worth to West Palm Beach to Pahokee. Over the summer, the bus rolled up to serve children in six states in 10 days.

She’s heard from folks as far away as Africa who want to replicate her concept, and she’s eager to help.
​
Pyfrom figures the idea spread even further in that one minute.

The commercial was shot before Christmas break, but that wasn’t the last she saw of Microsoft’s people. They sent a crew back shortly after to update every one of the 17 computers on the Brilliant Bus and supplied 28 tablets as well.

UPDATE: Estella says she would like to raise enough money to buy a second Brilliant Bus. If you want to help see the information at the end of this post.

Did you see that Palm Beach County had its very own presence at the Super Bowl Sunday? No, not on the field. Even better: In the commercials.

Retired veteran Palm Beach County teacher, Estella Pyfrom, 78,  got a very pricey 60 seconds for her technology loaded Brilliant Bus, courtesy of Microsoft. The students of Pahokee Elementary are in there as well.

It was one of two ads placed in the most watched airtime of the year by the technology giant.

“We are extremely pleased. We are happy to play a part to make her Brilliant Bus even more brilliant,” Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said Monday.

The spot is narrated by rapper Common who is reciting passages from speeches by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
“The real question that needs to be asked as well as answered is what is it that we can do that is unique, that is impactful,” Common says.

And then, “This is Estella Pyfrom and this is my Brilliant Bus… I had an idea. A bus that brings technology to the kids that need it most…”

Pyfrom’s work has been highlighted in the pages of The Palm Beach Post. From there her work came to the attention of CNN, which recognized her as one of its 10  CNN Heroes in 2013. She’s also been honored by the White House and local business associations.

She has spent a lifetime educating and volunteering, but it is her work after retirement that has drawn so much attention. Pyfrom invested her retirement savings into her idea – an idea that has cost more than $1 million.

Along the way, she sought help, including help from Microsoft and its YouthSpark program. That program was launched in 2012 with a goal of creating opportunities for 300 million youth by 2015.



“It’s an initiative designed to help, frankly, in the same manner she’s doing,” Gellos said. Pyfrom got that grant which helped furnish the bus. “We’ve been following her ever since.”

And when the opportunity came to pick some of Microsoft’s best work in that vein, she was an obvious choice.
“Hers is a perfect example of how technology can really help folks and the idea someone would be able to set up something like this is great – an example of what everyone should want to do.”

Work began a couple of months ago on the advertisement that was shot in Palm Beach County.

“My family always has a Super Bowl party and I usually find something else to do,” Pyfrom admits. But not this time. Instead, she was filled with anxiety heading into the third quarter knowing that her moment was coming and worrying that the incessant phone ringings and text message pings would distract in the critical moment.

“It was crazy, but in a good way,” Pyfrom said.

The commercial was shot before Christmas break, but that wasn’t the last she saw of Microsoft’s crew. They returned shortly after to update every one of the 17 computers aboard her Brilliant Bus and supplied  28 tablets as well.
​
UPDATE: I’ve heard from some people who would like to contribute to Estella’s dream. To do that you can go to the website estellasbrilliantbus.org and hit the ‘donate’ button.  You can also email her email estella@brilliantbus.org or call her (561)985-1889.

“Tech Innovation Bus Ride” is a partnership of change agents: Estella’s Brilliant Bus, Black Girls Code and Startup Edutech. The partnership is seeking to raise $250,000 from corporate sponsors supporting solutions to reach students and their communities with a new narrative to connect them with the tech innovation economy. We plan to transport 150 youth on an 11-day summer “tech innovation” road trip in conjunction with participation in the launch of the “Yes We Code” Tech Village, hosted at the “Essence Music Festival 20th Anniversary” celebration in New Orleans July 3-6, 2014. Estimated attendance is anticipated to exceed 500,000. Our mission to, through, and from the festival, is to help these students and their communities to change the trajectory of their future using skills gained through activities associated with tech innovation.

​
Tech Innovation Bus Ride is multi-city bus caravan featuring turnkey hands-on custom coding classes, robotics and tech entrepreneurship workshops. Students will be mentored and hosted by Estella’s Brilliant Bus (CNN Hero), Black Girls Code (White House Champions of Change for Tech Inclusion Awardee), and Start-up Edutech (Silicon Valley based pioneer in Mobile Education Entrepreneurship). This unique approach to student engagement with technology represents a distinct opportunity for aligned corporate partners to create direct outreach and support of tech-inclusion efforts that can result in a lifelong impact for our students and their future impact on society at large.
For supporting companies that seek to invest in our multi-city tech tour through the South, we offer several media exposure packages in addition to a variety of a la carte and packaged participation opportunities:
Tech Innovation Bus Ride travel route: West Palm Beach, Fla; Atlanta, Ga; Birmingham, Al; Selma, Al; Memphis, Tenn., Jackson, Miss, New Orleans, La

Children can hardly contain themselves when CNN Hero Estella Pyfrom comes by in her mobile computer lab.
Source: CNN

West Palm Beach, FloridaCNN — Working as a guidance counselor five years ago in Palm Beach County, Estella Pyfrom noticed that fewer students had access to a computer after school.

The sluggish economy forced many families to prioritize their money and use it for more pressing needs.

“They needed food. They needed to pay their mortgage or their rent,” said Pyfrom, a former teacher. “Some of them lost their cars. So I knew it was a serious problem.”

Without a computer at home, or reliable transportation to get to a computer, Pyfrom feared that many of these students would get left behind.

So she bought a bus, filled it with computers and brought technology to the kids.

Her mobile computer lab, Estella’s Brilliant Bus, has provided free, computer-based tutoring for thousands of students since 2011.

“If people don’t have some knowledge of technology, they’re going to be limited,” said Pyfrom, who retired in 2009 and used money from her savings to buy the bus. “It’s absolutely essential that they get involved technologically.”
​
Pyfrom is determined to help poor children get the same educational opportunities as other children. According to the Institute of the Study of Labor, students who lack access to a home computer are less likely to graduate high school.

“The digital divide is absolutely real,” said Pyfrom, 76. “And it didn’t just become a reality. It’s been there for years, and it’s getting bigger and more important.”

Pyfrom’s custom-designed bus is outfitted with 17 computer stations that are connected to high-speed Internet via satellite.

Emblazoned on its side are the words “Have Knowledge, Will Travel” and “We bring learning to you.” The bus travels to schools, shelters and community centers throughout the county.

​“We serve children starting with age 3 all the way through senior citizens, based on what the needs are,” Pyfrom said. “We are bringing the learning and the technology to the neighborhoods. They all can benefit from that.”
​
Pyfrom and her army of volunteers hold regular classes and tutoring sessions about four days a week. They offer lessons in computer and Internet basics as well as reading, math or science classes that supplement what children are learning in school.

Sometimes, the bus simply serves as an open computer lab.
The rules on the bus are few and simple. Among them, gum and Facebook are not allowed. Pyfrom takes a no-nonsense approach to her mobile classroom.

“Excuses don’t get the job done,” she said. “You do whatever it takes to make things happen. That’s the only thing that works.”

The computers are loaded with educational software, providing interactive exercises that reinforce state-mandated curricula. Children receive their own account login and password, allowing them to continue their work from anywhere they can access the Internet. Users can only advance to the next level in a subject once they reach 90% proficiency in the current one, and the software allows Pyfrom to track their progress.

For older students, the bus brings GED and college preparatory assistance, anti-bullying and peer mediation classes, and student leadership training.

Pyfrom and her team provide about 8,000 hours of instruction to at least 500 children a year. She hopes the extra time will help bring students up to their grade level in reading, vocabulary, math, science and life skills.
Freddy and Brianna Rodriguez are two students benefiting from Pyfrom’s bus. Adopted from foster care, the siblings struggled with their grades when they entered junior high school.

“If I didn’t have the bus to come to, it’d be hard to get to a computer,” said Brianna, 13. “My grades have gotten better. The one-on-one time, it helped me.”

In working with the students, Pyfrom found that many parents didn’t know how to use a computer. Now her bus helps them, too.

“They’re learning right along with the kids,” Pyfrom said. “They don’t feel threatened, because what I say to them is, ‘If your 4-year-old can use a computer and click a mouse, so can you.’ “
On the bus, adults can receive online banking tutorials, resume assistance and help searching for jobs and affordable housing.

Pyfrom’s efforts to help low-income families haven’t stopped with her bus. She also partnered with a community nonprofit to help provide meals to 3,000 residents each month. Through that work, she’s identified other ways her bus can help struggling neighbors build up technological proficiency necessary in the marketplace.

“We want to do what we can do in (each) neighborhood to make things better for all,” Pyfrom said. “We run into people who really want to better their lifestyles and are without help. We can help them make a big difference in their neighborhoods.”

To keep up the momentum of her efforts, Pyfrom has continued to pour her savings into maintaining and modifying her bus, so far spending about $1 million, she says.

An easy retirement is not something she aspires to.

“I’m not tired yet. And I don’t think I’m going to get tired,” she said. “I’m constantly charged up. I look at the faces of the children and I get energized.”

Pyfrom is determined to see her services expand throughout the state, even the country. She estimates she has enough savings to keep her bus running for another two years, but she hopes to find financial support before she runs out of money.

“I don’t think about what I’m not able to do or not going to be able to do,” she said. “I plan for the things that I think I’m going to do, need to do and want to do. And I think most of them are going to happen.

“We’ve got to keep rolling. We’re going to keep taking the service to the neighborhoods, and we are going to keep making a difference.”
​
Want to get involved? Check out the Estella’s Brilliant Bus website at www.estellasbrilliantbus.org and see how to help.

A Palm Beach County woman was honored Monday at the White House for her “Brilliant Bus,” which brings a mobile computer lab to children with little access to technology at home.

Estella Pyfrom, the daughter of migrant workers in Belle Glade, shared the spotlight with former President George H. W. Bush, who was on hand for the ceremony naming the 5,000 Daily Point of Light.

Bush established the program in 1989 and named a “point of light” nearly every day of his White House tenure. His organization has since continued to recognize Americans who make giving back a priority.

Obama credited the president with sparking a national movement and making the country a “better, and a stronger force for good in the world.”

He added: “You’ve described for us those thousand points of light — all the people and organizations spread out all across the country who are like stars brightening the lives of those around them. But given the humility that’s defined your life, I suspect it’s harder for you to see something that’s clear to everybody else around you, and that’s how bright a light you shine — how your vision and example have illuminated the path for so many others, how your love of service has kindled a similar love in the hearts of millions here at home and around the world.”
Monday’s event was particularly moving because the elder Bush has been ill. The crowd, seated in gilt chairs among crystal chandeliers and paintings of George Washington, cheered as the former president was wheeled onto stage. His red and white striped socks were showing, which his son Neil joked was evidence of the former president’s other passion: fashion.

The ceremony was also moving because of the stories of the honorees.
Floyd Hammer and Kathy Hamilton of Iowa had planned to retire after decades of farming. On their way to sail around the world, a friend told them about a village in Tanzania they should visit.

“That changed everything,” Hamilton said.

She described scenes of unforgettable poverty and recalled three little boys scavenging for food who ate something poisonous and died while the couple were there.

The organization Outreach was born in 2004 out of that experience and has packed 232 million meals and delivered them to people around the world.
The couple was named the 5,000th Point of Light.

Neil Bush, chairman of the Points of Light foundation, spoke about how his father and mother had often imagined if all of the Points of Light lived in one town, what a place it would be.

Estella Pyfrom, who taught for nearly 50 years in Palm Beach County before retiring and taking her bus around the county, was the first Point of Light Bush mentioned in his musings about this fictional town. She was named the 4,998th point of light.

The honor was something Pyfrom never imagined, certainly not when she was a 6-year-old girl, picking beans and moving from farm-to-farm with her parents.

Her upbringing, she said, helps her relate to the children she serves now.

“I pretty much know and understand how it feels to be without,” she said.

But Pyfrom said she never let what she didn’t have get in the way of her education or of her dreams.

“We had a certain amount that we expected of ourselves and our parents expected of us,” she said Monday, taking a break from the reception to stand on the White House lawn and talk about her organization.

Her high expectations for the children she brings aboard “Miss Estella’s Brilliant Bus” are what keep her going.

And she hopes this recognition will help her serve more children. Pyfrom spent her own savings on buying and renovating the air-conditioned bus, which fits 17 computer stations. She estimates it cost about $900,000.
​
“All of this attention is kind of new and recent,” she said, “A lot of people don’t know about it, but it’s sure to help my organization.”