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.