pittsburgh-professional-magazine-story-march-08

By Jared Trent Stonesifer Photos by Duane Rieder

Last Cha 36

Pittsburgh Professional Magazine

Photo Caption Photographer: Name Here

No child left behind has special meaning to the head of the Phase 4 Learning Center

nce High April 2008

37

Last Chance

One girl saw her brother shot and killed right before her eyes. One was nearly beaten to death in downtown Pittsburgh, a random target of a gang initiation. Another was left parentless and alone after his mother overdosed on heroin. And another was sleeping in the school after hours because he was homeless and had no place to go.

These are the children who are most likely to be left behind,

disruptive behavior and deviant attitudes. Others suffer from

raised on the streets, hardened by life, and possessing little

low self-esteem or frequent anxiety attacks, kids who simply

faith in the decency of other people. Until they meet Terrie

need an optional learning environment to thrive. Children

Suica-Reed.

without a high school diploma face a bleak future. They get

Reed is the president and CEO of the Phase 4 Learning Center

one last chance to earn it at Phase 4, an accredited alternative

located on the top floor of Century III Mall in West Mifflin. Many of

education center formed in partnership with Century III’s owner,

her students dub the school “Last Chance High,” and many would

the Simon Property Group and the Simon Youth Foundation.

“end up dead or in jail” without it, Reed says.

10,000 square-foot learning center. “You come down off the Hill

bridges in Pittsburgh,” she says softly. “I had one young lady

and go down into the trenches. For these kids it was more of a

who would bring someone into me and say, ‘I met so-and-so

survival issue, so you can’t expect them to focus on learning. The

when she was downtown, panhandling because she’s homeless.

safest part of their day is when they were at school. After 2:30

Will you help her like you helped me?’”

in the afternoon, they didn’t know what would happen because

Students come to Phase 4 angry and rough, unmotivated and

38

“This is real life here,” Reed says, sitting at a table inside the

“We have kids who are homeless, kids who live under the

they’re out there with a lot of uncontrollable factors.”

insubordinate. Some were kicked out of other school districts

Phase 4’s rigorous academic program enabled 143 grateful

when teachers and administrators couldn’t deal with their

seniors to earn a diploma last year. And Reed stresses that it’s

Pittsburgh Professional Magazine

e High

never too late to learn; one of her graduates was

Reed didn’t start her career as an educator

a 68-year-old school bus driver. The program

or looking to help others less fortunate. Her

boasts a 98 percent graduation rate and a 100

awakening began in 1989 when she was told

percent placement rate. Reed says she won’t let

she had terminal breast cancer and six months

a graduated student slip away until they have a

to live. Shortly thereafter, she learned that her

job, go to college or join the military.

accounting job was moving to Germany. Jobless

Phase 4 started with six students in 2003.

and dying, the 32-year-old Reed had little choice

Reed and her dedicated staff of teachers,

but to fight through it all. She fought hard

counselors and administrators now help almost

enough to beat the disease and came away from

600 students from 50 school districts in the

the experience with a new outlook. “After all I’d

Pittsburgh area. Phase 4 has been so successful

been through I wanted to do something to help

that two additional campuses were built, one in

the community more so than helping companies

East Liberty and another in Washington, Pa. And

get richer,” she says.

it has captured attention and praise from the highest levels of government in Pennsylvania.

She

went

to

Franciscan

University

and

completed an undergraduate degree in English

“I had the pleasure of meeting Terri Suica-

in 1994, and a master’s degree in education and

Reed and her students in March of 2005,” says

education administration in 1996. She then had

Judge Marjorie O. Rendell, Pennsylvania’s First

another life-changing experience when she was

Lady. “I was struck by the sense of stability and

placed in Harding Middle School in Steubenville,

community among the at-risk students who have

Ohio, for a short teaching appointment. Reed

difficulty experiencing success in a traditional

still keeps a framed picture of the bright-eyed,

school environment. I applaud Terri and her staff

wide-smiled sixth grader in a Cleveland Indians

for her vision and their commitment to these

jersey and cap whom she met in Steubenville.

students. Their dedication is truly exemplary.”

Merle Thompson inspired her passion for at-

“We have kids who are homeless, kids who live under the bridges in Pittsburgh.

I had one young lady bring someone into me and say, ‘I met so-and-so when she was downtown, panhandling because she’s homeless. Will you help her like you helped me?’”

April 2008

39

risk teaching and gave her “one of the richest

clutching his spelling test. “All the corporate

experiences of my entire life.”

reports I had to do, everything in my corporate

“When he came to school, he was immediately placed in the hall,” Reeds says. “And he knew the

life couldn’t measure up to the fact that this little kid got an A on his test,” she says.

routine already. He’d find the first wooden chair

After her residency in Steubenville, Reed went

in the front of the room and drag it into the hall

to teach at South Side High School in Beaver

and sit there, day after day. He had no paper, no

County. She stayed in touch with Thompson,

pencils and no homework, but he had a smile that

whose mother later made an unusual request.

would light up the darkest corner of any room.

She could see her son’s desire to learn and

He had a desire to learn because he wanted so

prosper, but knew he could not receive a quality

desperately to have a life. I could see this in this

education on the streets of Steubenville. So she

young kid, but he didn’t have the means.”

asked Reed if Thompson could live with her and

Reed

asked

Thompson’s

teacher

if

she

go to school at South Side.

could help him learn right there in the hallway.

Merle Thompson and Terrie Suica-Reed as student and teacher, top, and today as co-workers.

“She wanted to see me do better and knew

Desensitized by 35 years on the job and perceiving

I

that Thompson was beyond help, the teacher gave

Thompson says. “I definitely admire her for

Reed a perplexed look and asked, “Why?”

making that choice. I know it was a hard decision

“I was surprised that she even wanted to try

couldn’t

succeed

in

that

environment,”

for her, but it was the best decision.”

to help me,” Thompson now says. “She didn’t

Thompson didn’t have any positive role models

even know me.” Reed met with Thompson for 30

in his life. His father left the family years earlier

minutes a day in that hallway, where he sat and

and his mother often struggled with alcohol

she stood and gave her lesson. Thompson soon

problems. His older brother was sentenced to

caught up to his class and started earning the

life in prison for involuntary manslaughter when

first A’s of his life. Reed remembers the first time

Thompson was 16.

he came running to her, smile as wide as the Nile,

It was only 25 miles from Steubenville to

Reed’s home in rural Beaver County, but it was

students and parents from South Side traveled

a world apart for Thompson. Reed’s 60-acre

to Steubenville for his court hearing. Six of the

farm had horses, sheep, cats and dogs roaming

students testified to his character. Thompson

a pristine landscape far from the hard, glass-

returned to South Side, where he became

ridden pavement of Steubenville.

president of his vocational technology class his

“It was just so different from everything I came from and knew,” Thompson says. “I knew

senior year and helped the school win its first and only state title in football.

the school had to be different and the people

“You talk about somebody who’s had an

there had to be different because they didn’t

impact on lives,” Reed says. “When Merle came

experience city life. I knew everything was going

to South Side, a real farming community with a

to be different. And it was.”

lot of rednecks, he knew he was different and

Thompson became a black student in a school

would face problems. But he had such a great

district that was 99.5 percent white, but he

personality, real sincere and genuine. And the

seldom experienced discrimination in his new

only black kid in the whole area ends up uniting

school and was welcomed on the basketball and

two different cultures. He brought two worlds

football teams. “Once I started playing basketball,

together because he dispelled a lot of myths

they didn’t see any color. It was just friendship

surrounding his own culture.”

and love,” he says.

With Reed’s help, Thompson went on to

Thompson thrived in Beaver County, but a

study at a community college. He now lives in

longing for his family eventually led him back

Midland with his girlfriend and three children,

to Steubenville, where he fell in with the wrong

and he works at Phase 4 helping kids realize

people and ended up on the wrong side of the

their potential in the face of adversity. He takes

law. A shooting incident resulted in charges of

students on trips to the zoo and to the Carnegie

attempted murder, concealing a weapon and

Science Center and serves as an administrative

discharging a firearm into a house. He doesn’t

assistant to Reed. He’s around “just to be a good

like to speak about a short stint in county prison,

friend to everybody,” he says.

except to say it was “horrible.”

But Reed again came to his rescue, and this time she had help. Reed hired a lawyer for

“He’s such a great role model for these kids

“I was struck by the sense of stability and community among the at-risk students who have difficulty experiencing success in a traditional school environment. I applaud Terri and her staff. Their dedication is truly exemplary.”

Marjorie O. Rendell

because he lived what they’re going through,” Reed says.

Thompson, and a 16-member caravan of white

April 2008

41

Thompson is not Reed’s only success story,

As a 6th grader, Merle Thompson’s teacher perceived him to be beyond help and relegated him to the hallway outside the classroom. When Reed volunteered to teach him there, the teacher gave her a perplexed look and asked, “Why?”

4 are located in 21 of those malls.

but she also acknowledges the failures. On her

Reed “has an unbelievable passion for these

desk are framed photos of a young woman with

kids,” says Richard M. Markoff, executive vice

a bright smile and a young man with wide eyes.

president of Simon Youth Foundation. “We think

They are among the few who didn’t make it. The

the world of who she is and what she has done.”

girl’s picture was taken two months before she

Markoff also credits Reed with an amazing ability

was found dead in a dumpster last January, killed

to persuade school districts and community

by her boyfriend. She always had problems with

leaders to help kids who come from a cycle of

men, Reed says. Another one of her students was

poverty, crime and drugs. “She has synergy that

a recovered heroin addict who completed Phase 4

excites other people in the community to want

and went on to college. But her younger brother

to help out in an area that isn’t always popular,”

died of cancer at age 13 and she committed

he says.

suicide in a state of inconsolable grief. Another

Outside of her third floor office in Century III,

student from the East Liberty learning center was

some of Reed’s students are getting heated. Reed

shot and killed on the streets of Pittsburgh while

says they’re upset about the North Side shooting

still enrolled at the school.

death of a 12-year-old girl last January. But the

But the failures don’t deter Reed. They can’t,

mood eventually lightens up and the kids start

and she knows it. Her persistence has not

goofing around and laughing outside her office.

gone unnoticed. Reed recently received the

As they become louder, Reed looks toward her

Administrator of the Year award by the Simon

office window and flashes a tired smile. “It doesn’t

Youth Foundation. Simon Property is one of the

bother me that they’re laughing and being rowdy,”

largest real estate owners in the nation with more

she says. “I’m so glad that they’re here. They

than 300 malls, and alternative schools like Phase

wouldn’t have anywhere else to go.”