Tiffany Sparks’ goal is to be the change she wants to see in the community. Her role with the Lawton Public Schools Police Department provides the avenue she seeks to help make an impact.
“Chief David Hornbeck presented me with an opportunity to be involved in the Handle With Care program being implemented in Lawton schools last year. It allows me to network and communicate with other law enforcement agencies and businesses in the community for the benefit of our students,” she said.
Handle With Care was created on a national level in response to the 2009 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention report on children’s exposure to violence, according to the Administration for Children and Families website, acf.hhs.gov. Its aim is to ensure that children who are exposed to crime, violence or abuse receive the appropriate interventions so they can succeed in school to the best of their ability. The pilot program was launched in Charleston, West Virginia, in 2013.
Lawton Public Schools has partnered with area law enforcement agencies including Lawton, Comanche Nation and the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office. If an officer encounters a child during a call, that child’s name and three words, Handle With Care, are forwarded to the school/child care agency before the school bell rings the next day. The school implements individual, class and whole school trauma-sensitive curricula so traumatized children are handled with care. If a child needs more intervention, trauma-focused mental health care is available at the school, according to the Handle With Care model.
“For me, it’s about making a difference in someone’s life,” Sparks said.
She graduated from Eisenhower High School in 2005 and is the daughter of Bobby Rodgers and Starla Sparks-Rodgers. Her brother, Brandon Sparks, is a police officer in Tulsa.
“I’m pretty grounded in Lawton,” she said. “I was born and raised here. My parents and grandparents are from here and I’ve never really considered going anywhere else. It’s easier to help and make connections in a community that I grew up in.”
While at EHS Sparks was a cheerleader until her senior year when she decided to become an athletic trainer. During her senior year she was also a member of the track team, throwing the shotput and the discus. Former coach Mike Burris was one of her mentors. Sparks gave up cheerleading her senior year to be an athletic trainer for the football and track seasons.
Coach Burris “had strong leadership skills,” she said. “I liked how he communicated with every type of student. I wanted to be like him. I want to be able to communicate with every type of person in our community.”
Two things are extremely important in Sparks’ life: family and education.
“My family comes first before anything. Family is very important,” she said. Sparks gives credit to her parents for supporting her as a single mom and influencing her educational goals.
“At one time they (her parents) worked at Goodyear – my mom was in management before she retired, and they both encouraged me to pursue a business degree,” she said. Through the University of Phoenix, Sparks earned her associate degree in business fundamentals and a Bachelor of Science in business with a concentration in project management.
“My business degree is very helpful with working with community leaders. It has helped me with networking, building relationships and helped with the program that I am currently doing,” Sparks said. Within a few months, she will begin pursing a Master’s in Science in administration of justice and security.
“I’m always trying to learn,” she said. “I can’t learn too much.”
Along with her educational degrees, Sparks graduated from the Lawton Public Schools Police Department Reserve Academy in August of 2019, and in July of 2020 she graduated from the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training’s Bridge Academy, located in Ada.
She also serves as a reserve deputy with the Cotton County Sheriff’s Office.
Another aspect of her job that she enjoys with the LPS Police Department is the teamwork and teambuilding both within the department and the community.
“No one can do this by themselves,” she said, which also reflects the mission of Handle With Care.