Principal Helps Build a Bright Future for LA’s Boyle Heights Teens

With 20 years of experience in education, Sucari Epps is the proud principal at Five Keys Boyle Heights youth site in Los Angeles. Hailing from a family of pioneering Black women — her grandmother was an employment specialist for the veteran’s administration and her mom a probation officer — her path to becoming a principal was not linear.

Five Keys graduation night, June 2024

“I had planned on a career as a lawyer or in politics,” the 44-year-old LA resident says. “But teaching seemed to choose me.”

And, making a difference in the lives of young people through education became her calling.

Today, in a neighborhood that has one of the highest rates of gang violence in America, Sucari may not hold the title of attorney or lawmaker, but her vision for making a difference goes far beyond legislative changes in the lives of predominantly Latino students in this underserved barrio. She’s helping them imagine the unimaginable. A stone’s throw from downtown Los Angeles, gang members are part of the scenery of Boyle Heights. But it’s not just the physical violence, it’s the violence of unemployment, segregation, isolation and an educational system that blatantly ignores and kicks the neighborhood’s teens to the curb.

“These students can barely go outside our building because we are surrounded by two gangs,” she says. “We’ve got bullet marks on the windows and gang members will pull up dressed all in black wearing black hoodies threatening our students. We’re confiscating drugs, knives and vape pens. But yet, somehow inside these doors, the students have learned to speak the academic language, to feel safe and to find new hope. Trust and respect for the students and each other are key.”

The school is made up of students ages 16 to 24 and currently has 56 students enrolled. In June of 2024, 10 students graduated with a high school diploma. Five Keys shares the building and partners with the Boyle Heights Youth Technology Center at 1600 E. 4th St. in Los Angeles.

That’s why she says it’s so exciting to be part of the Five Keys’ school system, which not only aligns with her social justice beliefs, but has the audacity to instill the values that will guide these young people to become responsible and compassionate contributors to the community.

“One of the students I was really proud of is a young lady who really struggled with mental health issues, living with an alcoholic and extremely verbally abusive mother,” says Sucari. I was astonished how she arrived day after day and found the tools and resources to stay focused from our counselors, to joining the student council. I’m so proud to say that today she is in college studying to become psychologist. She’s told me she wants to get her doctorate.

Sucari’s journey from her aspirations to join the legal or political system is an inspiring testament to the transformative potential of educators who are committed to making a difference in their communities.

“Sucari is so passionate, compassionate and really cares about our students and helping them each individually,” says Kelley Alley, SoCal Reginal Superintendent, who supervises Sucari and the principals. “She goes above and beyond by making sure each student is connected to the resources they need.”

In addition to Five Keys Boyle Heights, Sucari recently was appointed principal of Healthright360-Prototypes, which provides education to women who are rebuilding their lives and the lives of their children in a community impacted by substance use, mental illness and domestic violence, and the Pomona school.

From launching a student council to taking students on weekly field trips to Hollywood and bringing in CPR training so students can get certified in case they face life-threatening situations in the community they live, “Sucari is always innovating and looking at ways to improve what we offer to students,” said Kelley.

Sucari graduated with a degree in English Writing and a Master’s in Special Education from California State University in Northridge and a PhD in Education Leadership and Administration from California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

Her ultimate goal has always been to lead a school program or programs that foster positive learning experiences for at-promise youth and/or students with significant social/emotional/behavioral needs as a mentor, coach to instructors, and/or intensive intervention support provider. 

“My goal is that these young men and women of color will never again feel limited in their opportunities,” says Sucari. “I’m looking forward to the years ahead, growing this program and watching as together we are transforming lives.”

When she’s not at work, Sucari is trailblazing new journeys traveling on her motorcycle to cities and the countryside near and far from Los Angeles. “I love to make new discoveries and create new adventures.”

Second Chance Program Offers Former Prison Inmate New Lease on Life - A story of hope and pushing others forward

Before he graduated high school this May through Five Keys Charter Schools,  Joseph Riddlesperger, 27, spent most of his teen years “catching cases.”  Bounced from juvenile hall to foster homes, he was kicked out of high school. Eventually he ended up incarcerated for almost four years. The collateral consequences of a trauma-filled upbringing led him to multiple convictions for vehicle theft, DUI, drug possession, stealing cars, and evading the law.

Graduation day at the Southeast Community Center in San Francisco on June 7, 2024.

After being released from prison and moving in with an uncle, Joseph couldn’t break the cycle and found himself facing another five-year stint in prison. 

But providence stepped in through an emotional prison visit from his mother and a surprise offer from a judge who told him “You are the worst possible candidate for a drug program.” At his sentencing hearing, the judge offered Joseph a second chance to turn his life around:  The deal: wave prison time and attend a two-year bootcamp-style program, The Jericho Project in Brisbane, CA. 

 “My lifestyle was getting high and catching cases, not a very productive member of society,” says Joseph. “I was always self-sabotaging. But then my mother came to the prison to visit me and it got me. She was crying saying she couldn’t survive one more night waiting for a phone call and wondering if I was going to make it home. She told me how I had once been the role model for my nieces and nephews. But my13-year-old nephew said I wasn’t anymore. That is when I felt I lost everything. I didn’t want to be that guy. I want to be better than that.” 

Enter the Jericho Project, a humane alternative to prison that provides treatment and training to chemically dependent former offenders who are committed to recovery rehabilitation. There, men like Joseph receive housing, treatment, education, physical training, social development and vocational training so they can become productive and successful members of society again. It’s a tough haul. Newbies are not allowed calls or any contact with family members for 90 days. 

“Joseph’s one of the ‘lucky’ ones, he got two years here, when most of us just get one,” says Matt Jones, intake director for Jericho, who is a graduate of the program where 70 men including Joseph currently live. “I say that sarcastically because 60 percent of the men don’t make it through one year here. But Joseph is close to completing two years, a very strict sentence. The way Joseph has turned himself around has been a major pillar in my own recovery and growth. He has become a leader helping the new men who arrive here and they respect him because they know he gets where they have been.” 

Months away from completing the Jericho program, Joseph works daily as a warehouse manager as a diesel mechanic. After hours, he is a personal trainer at Jericho.

Jericho Project’s educational curriculum is a key component of treatment, crucial to assisting clients like Joseph in developing into a functional, self-reliant individual. The partnership with Five Keys Charter Schools is key to that transformation. 

Joseph says his high school graduation was a monumental event he never could have imagined. To support him, his supervisor from work attended the ceremony. “It meant the world to me to have him there,” says Joseph.

Joseph receives his diploma. It’s official.

Like it’s biblical metaphor, the Jericho Project invites and challenges former offenders like Joseph who often are considered society’s throw aways to get and be better, to achieve what seems impossible to others.

Joseph’s gratefulness for his Five Keys teacher, Tanya Kennedy, doesn’t even scratch the surface of what he says she has done to guide him through the challenging classroom. 

“She is so full of life and spent so much time giving me extra help in class,” says Joseph. “I had such a hard time with economics, but she spent so much time breaking it down in details until I got it.” 

The respect is mutual. 

“Joseph is an inspiration for a lot of people,” says Five Keys’ teacher Kennedy, who works onsite at Jericho. “Like many of the men he didn’t have the greatest upbringing, yet he doesn’t hold grudges and is very grateful for his renewed relationship with his family. He is up for any challenge and is a shining example of someone who has persevered and pushed through tremendous hardship to do better every day. He has become like a third son to me.”

Tanya Kennedy and Joseph

Joseph is keenly aware of the tremendous opportunity The Jericho Project and Five Keys are giving him to break free of his past and work hard toward a new life where he will flourish and grow. The U.S. prison system is based on punishment. The problem is, it doesn’t work — more than half of people released from prison are back within three years, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

What’s ahead? Joseph hopes to flip his high school diploma into a college degree, and wants to become an electrical mechanic.  
“I want to set an example for my family and the other men here, become a role model and a productive citizen,” says Joseph. 

Despite the barriers that society has in place, and continues to reinforce, Joseph says he and Matt are proof that you can lead a positive life after prison. He shares his experience with the young men entering the Jericho program.

About The Jericho Project

Jericho Project was established in 1995 as a structured, residential treatment program for recovery from substance abuse and criminal behavior. The primary objective is recovery through development of the mind, body, and spirit. The program facilities include several of our state-licensed private residential facilities and our outpatient treatment center. Jericho Project's first phase housing includes two residential houses. The houses are designed for newcomers who have been in the program less than three months. Our second phase housing consists of our 18-unit apartment complex. The apartment complex is designed to accommodate senior members. Our third phase housing consists of our 11-unit apartment complex designed for the alumni in our aftercare program. All residential housing is supervised by senior staff members. Our outpatient treatment center contains large open rooms for members to conduct treatment meetings, educational/ vocational classes, warehousing/forklift certification classes, corporate offices, and professional gym, which is designed to promote a healthy lifestyle. The center is central to the program's structure, training, and activities.

Bringing Rhyme and Reason to Make a Difference for the Five Keys Community

Spotlight on Dorick Scarpelli, VP of College, Career, and Reentry Pathways

To write poetry is to be vulnerable, to feel free. To trust the people around you.

Teaching literature and lyric art in a jail, an underworld environment designed around confinement and censorship, was perhaps the least likely place Dorick Scarpelli envisioned his future.

But in 2003, that’s exactly what the transplanted Massachusetts born-and-raised 20-something guy found himself doing when he met a “very passionate” woman named Sunny Schwartz (founder of Five Keys). “I remembered going into my interview at the Sherriff’s Office and was so moved by her powerful vision and passion around launching a restorative justice program.”

“Would he consider joining on,” she asked.

Armed with a Master’s in Fine Arts from Goddard College and an Ivy League fellow and undergrad from Brown University, within a month, Dorick found himself designing lesson plans. He’d done some work previously as a creative writing instructor for teens inside a juvenile detention facility. But after moving with his brother to San Francisco, he was ready to get serious about being a changemaker.

As Five Keys launched its first school for the incarcerated, Dorick rolled in a chalk board, planted himself in the center of the dorm pod at San Francisco’s former County Jail #2 Annex on Bryant Street and went to work. There, in a place meant to contain them, he encouraged female inmates to channel their emotions into poetry. Later he taught at the men’s dorm in San Bruno.

Maybe it was the culture code, the prevailing resistance to education among the deputies, or witnessing up-close what he calls “not exactly humane treatment.” Certainly, the wounds of the criminal justice system have played a major role in propelling and reinforcing Dorick’s lifelong calling to right social justice wrongs and his steadfast devotion to helping the wounded and traumatized find their voice. 

Fast-forward 20 years. Today, as VP of College, Career, and Reentry Pathways for Five Keys, Dorick walks with people from setback to comeback. Wearing many hats, he manages government and private contracts and partnerships throughout northern California and the Los Angeles area that support workforce development and college pathways for Five Keys students. He supervised Five Keys’ mobile classroom program and re-entry programs, along with Five Keys Home Free, a Treasure Island-based trauma-informed reentry program for criminalized survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. He has also served as one of the executive sponsors of Five Keys’ Abide Council (Advancing Belonging, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity).

“Dorick is definitely one of the driven changemakers,” says Karen Levine, a social justice activist, and former program coordinator at the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department who joined forces and has served alongside Sunny and founders since the very beginning. Currently, she runs WomanAlive, a violence prevention course for the women of Home Free, survivors of violence. “Dorick has his finger on the pulse of the program and does everything to support it and to help provide the resources for the women to re-educate and gain vital communication and intimacy skills to prevent violence in their lives again.”

Dorick Scarpelli (pictured left) at the Five Keys NorCal Class of ’24 graduation

Dorick’s most celebrated role is dad to Arlo, 11, and Teddy, 9, and husband to wife Lauren Dietz, who is currently studying geriatrics at UCSF to become a Nurse Practitioner. Both Lauren and Dorick are active managers for the boys’ soccer teams and during their “free time,” enjoy backpacking and getting out into nature with family time.

Growing up one of seven children, Dorick’s passion for racial justice and serving the underserved began in childhood. The strong faith of both his parents and Catholic social thought served as a guiding light. His father was a career educator and administrator in the public school system in Rockland, supporting students in a small working-class community and his mother was committed to helping others as a social worker.

“What I love about Five Keys is how innovative and tireless everyone is about changing intolerable social justice problems,” says Dorick. “Everyone is not afraid to experiment, to innovate and everyone really, really cares. What I love too is working with people who have turned their lives around, people who remind us that there is always hope, that we all deserve second chances.”

 Dorick Scarpelli (pictured right) at the Five Keys 20th Anniversary Celebration on October 26, 2023

 Dorick formerly was a Senior Advisor for the New York City Office of Mayor, Health & Human Services, and Center for Economic Opportunity, winner of the 2012 Harvard Kennedy School’s Innovations in Government Award, and the Young Men’s Initiative (YMI).

He was an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, teaching “Criminal Justice Systems and the Impact on Communities.” He also directed a re-entry program that serves young adults involved in the criminal justice system in the Bronx and Harlem.

These days, Dorick says he is inspired daily by the women who run and live at Home Free.

Tammy Johnson and Sunny Schwartz at Home Free

“I think of Tammy (Johnson, residential program director) and how inspiring her lived experience is,” says Dorick. “It is a privilege to work with colleagues who remind me every day to never give up. They show me the value of hard work and a commitment to doing the right thing. And, I think of Sunny (Schwartz), my mentor who reminds me that we are obligated to push back against the injustices in society and that it is our responsibility to work to change them.”

TikTok video of Sonoma County jail inmate getting emotional over hearing his musical composition goes viral. Here’s what the internet had to say

In March, inmates at the Sonoma County jail listened as a live Zoom broadcast from New York City brought the sounds of classical music into the detention facility. But, it wasn't just any music, these were compositions written by the inmates themselves, and a video taken by jail staff and shared with The Press Democrat of one inmate hearing his music being played has resonated with the internet.

This screenshot from a video shows a Sonoma County jail inmate listening as the composition he wrote is played, Monday, March 25, 2024. The video, posted on The Press Democrat's TikTok account, has had more than 1.4 million views in three weeks. (tiktok.com/@pressdemo)

The video, part of a story by staff writer Madison Smalstig and posted on The Press Democrat’s TikTok account April 2, has garnered 1.4 million views and over 1,500 comments on the site, and has been picked up by other websites who call the video “a beautiful sight.”

“It makes you realize that if we gave people more chances, more help, more respect, etc maybe different choices would be made and we’d have more beautiful things in this world,” wrote TikTok user JayNe in a comment on The Press Democrat’s TikTok video, which shows the unnamed inmate listening for two minutes to his composition.

In the video, the composer can be seen smiling, playing along with his fingers, and clapping with the crowd. Throughout the video, he has a look of pride on his face.

The March 25 performance by musicians from Julliard School marked the end of a nine-week program called Music for the Future. The program teaches incarcerated individuals about live music, composition and the life of Ludwig van Beethoven. The goal of the program is to help the inmates gain skills so they don’t return to jail once released, Smalstig wrote.

The program “proved to be one of the most rewarding experiences of their lives,” wrote Meghan Cook for “real good news” website goodgoodgood.co on April 3.

“Unsurprisingly, some inmates got a little teary while listening to their music for the first time. TBH, I got a little teary-eyed writing this one,” wrote Marty Townsend April 13 in an article about the video on inspiremore.com, which shares “good news and positive media happening around the world.”

Watch The Video Here

New program seeks to rehabilitate Sonoma County jail inmates by teaching music composition

MADISON SMALSTIG | THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | April 1, 2024, 3:15PM

The Edith String Quartet, composed of four Juilliard students playing two violins, a cello and viola, prepares Monday, Jan. 29, 2024, to play for 11 men in the music composition course and about 60 Sonoma County residents in the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility. (Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office)

The hums and harmonies from the string quartet flowed up and down, and the picks and plucks sharply exited the speakers into a classroom at the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility.

Eight incarcerated men and a small crowd listened March 25 as a quartet — Juilliard School students on two violins, a cello and a viola — performed eight pieces, each composed by one of the inmates.

Fluttery movements and fluid melodies dissipated wanting, dissonant chords and bled into sharp and distinct dynamics. The composers had written some comments, including “cartoony” and “life is risky but never boring,” in their sheet music that dictated the vibe and emotions to be expressed in the music.

The performance in New York City was broadcast live to the Santa Rosa jail via Zoom.

The students’ pieces were the culmination of about nine weeks of work through a program called Music for the Future, which teaches incarcerated individuals about live music, composition and the life and compositions of Ludwig van Beethoven. The underlying goal is to help them gain skills to better themselves so they don’t return to jail after being released.

The music was played in no particular order. The inmates were composers in this moment and looked down at their music to follow the movements. Some twiddled their thumbs, gripped their faces with their hands and bounced legs in anticipation. Some teared up. Some smiled when the crowd clapped.

Eleven students were selected for the class. Each was already enrolled in Five Keys, a nonprofit charter school that offers high school and some higher learning courses in the jail. Each actively participated in classes.

They learned the basics in week one. They had written a short piece of music by the end of week three.

Since then, they wrote nonstop and stayed committed to class. Only one had to leave because of an infraction.

That was an accomplishment. And on March 25, they celebrated.

Read The Original Artical on The Press Democrat

Five Keys gives Californians of all ages hope, high school diplomas, and job skills

“She saw something I never saw in myself. For the first time in my life, someone believed in me.” ”

— Ezekel Ferguson

In the fall of 2024, Ezekel Ferguson, 34, is poised to graduate from college with a triple degree in psychology, sociology and English. His next stop: a new job he’s recently landed in human resources, and he’s excited to continue his education and pursue a graduate degree in that field.

“I never, ever imagined this path for myself,” says Ezekel, a Long Beach, CA resident who is juggling full-time academia at Compton College and job as a truck driver that pays the rent and undergrad tuition. “I didn’t think I was good enough.”

He supported himself working at McDonalds. But he says, “I woke up one day and knew I had to make more of myself.”

That’s when he tried to find employment at a higher level, only to be told time and time again that he needed a high school degree.

He remembers being “especially discouraged and worried about my future.”

That is where providence stepped in.

“I was sitting in a lobby of some building applying for a job, when I was told I couldn’t be a candidate because I didn’t have a high school diploma,” he says.

That’s where Five Keys Schools and Programs came into play. Five Keys “just happens” to operate one of its high schools in the same building where Ezekel was seeking to find employment — the Rancho Dominguez America’s Job Center. The San Francisco-based Five Keys is an accredited charter high school that is breaking down barriers for more than 30,000 at-risk and in-risk individuals across California.

“I was really upset and frustrated when this woman approached me, Miss Margot,” he says. “She turned out to be a teacher with Five Keys and told me about their high school diploma program. She was so kind and saw something I never saw in myself. For the first time in my life, someone believed in me.”

In 2014 Ezekel enrolled in the free Five Keys program that is missioned to help adults graduate from high school or receive their GED in order to strengthen career opportunities and future wages. Juggling full-time work as a trucker and his studies, it took Ezekel several years to earn his high school degree.

But in 2017, he walked across the stage at his Five Keys high school graduation to the cheers of a crowd, including “Miss Margot,” Margot deGrave, now principal for eight Five Keys high school sites in the Los Angeles area.

“He was such a cool kid,” Margot, who has taught and worked with hundreds of students remembers Ezekel as a standout. “He has such a positive attitude even though he had such a rough journey. Like so many of our students, he faced so many challenges and had to drop out and re-enroll eight or nine times. But he preserved and made it. Even though he struggled, he never gave up. It is such an honor to witness someone who has truly been so motivated to create a brighter future for himself.”

In 2019 Ezekel received his associate degree in business administration and behavioral sciences from Compton College. With a couple of English courses left, he is poised to transfer to Cal State Long Beach from Compton college and finish his bachelor’s degree next fall.

“Miss Margot and the Five Keys team were with me every step of the way,” says Ezekel. “They were always there and even still reach out to see how I am doing. My goal is to have a career in human resources and I would love to work for Five Keys to help others in the same way they helped me.”

Get to know Ezekel better in this video.