Lori Brooks is a school bus driver in Michigan also known as Miss Sparkles to the kids on her route and is inspiring them to be kind.
Brooks was filmed on the first day back to school by Teresa Weakley. In the TikTok video, Brooks, a 60-year-old grandmother, is seen giving each child a warm welcome hug. She also knows every student by name and the names of the parents as well.
“Hello, Eliana!” Brooks exclaims. “I missed you. Did you have a good summer?”
When Kathleen steps on the bus, Brooks announces that she saw her over the summer doing flips at a beach “like a rubber band.”
According to Weakley, a morning anchor with NBC affiliate WOODTV, Brooks is an unwavering “ray of sunshine.” Weakley has a sixth grader and a third grader who both ride with Brooks.
“What you see in the TikTok video is how she is every day,” Weakley tells TODAY.com. "She's just incredible at making everyone feel special."
Brooks wears many hats from providing safe transportation to and from school, to a cheerleader, a surrogate mom, and an advice-giver.
Weakley says that her daughter confided in Brooks about her friendship drama that Brooks remembers well.
“I just asked if she needed someone to talk to,” Brooks tells TODAY.com. “I’m good at reading facial expressions. I can see in their eyes when they’re struggling, and I let them know they can come to me."
Brooks previously worked as a shipping manager in a factory and has now been a bus driver for 10 years.
“No matter what you do, I think you can change the world a little bit,” Brooks says. “Everybody has such value in this life.”
Brooks makes the effort to learn about each child on her route, and cheers them on at their games. Brooks notices little things, even when a child gets on the bus without their glasses.
“I let them go back in the house to grab them,” she says. “They have to be able to see at school!
When Brooks’s husband passed away unexpectedly in 2021, she was showered with love by the families on her route who showed up for her with meals and cards.
“The kids drew me pictures and that made me smile — because there I am with my big hair and big jewelry,” she says. “Coco Chanel said before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take at least one thing off. My motto is, ‘Add more.’”
Brooks loves her job and only took off a few days from work after losing the love of her life two years ago.
“My job brings me so much joy — these kids bring me so much joy,” she says. “They’re helping me to heal.”
And she's showing them by example to become the best versions of themselves.
"I tell them that kindness is the cure for everything," Brooks says
Source: Today