Career center dedicated to Burgettstown native
Courtesy of the Navy Talent Acquisition Group
Dr. Terrie Suica-Reed speaks at the dedication of the Tom Reed Armed Forces Center in honor of her husband, Tom Reed, who died in December.
Courtesy of Dr. Terrie Suica-Reed
The Tom Reed Armed Forces Center in Pittsburgh was dedicated in honor of Burgettstown native Tom Reed.
Courtesy of Dr. Terrie Suica-Reed
Tom Reed and his wife, Dr. Terrie Suica-Reed, co-founded Phase 4 Learning Center in 2003.
Tom Reed had a deep admiration for those who served in the military and wanted to make sure they were respected.
The Burgettstown native, who died at 83 in December, would have been proud May 2, as the Tom Reed Armed Forces Career Center was dedicated at 5850 Centre Ave. in Pittsburgh.
“This was my husband’s dream,” said his wife, Dr. Terrie Suica-Reed, of the multipurpose center for military personnel. “My husband was very passionate about our military and our country and those who serve to keep us all safe and free. He felt we should really respect those folks. Also, with so many career pathways available in the military, he wanted to connect them to community members and students to make people aware of what the armed forces can actually provide long-term with respect to a career and a successful life.”
The Tom Reed Armed Forces Career Center is one of the sites of the Phase 4 Learning Center. The nonprofit organization, co-founded by Reed and his wife in 2003, helps at-risk and disadvantaged people earn their high school diploma and succeed in either higher education, the military, or the workforce.
Reed said the Phase 4 program has grown from its origins of six students in Brentwood School District to its current 1,400 students. There are three locations in Allegheny County (including one in Baldwin) and one in Harrisburg.
“We’re the largest private school in Western Pennsylvania, with respect to numbers,” she said. “We offer various educational programs, high school diplomas, as well as a career pathways program.”
Phase 4, as the name would indicate, offers a safe learning environment focused on four phases of development: academic, social, behavioral and future career path.
The roots of the Phase 4 Learning Center sprouted from Reed’s teaching days in Steubenville, Ohio.
“There was a little boy, he was a sixth-grader,” Reed recalled. “He was African American, disadvantaged, at risk and was never prepared for school. He wanted to learn, but didn’t have the tools nor the support. He just really wanted a chance, but did not have what was needed to have that chance.”
Turn the calendar ahead 28 years and that young man is 40 and works for Phase 4.
Tom Reed formed a strong partnership with the military after meeting Col. Robert P. Wade, when Wade served as commander of the Pittsburgh Recruiting Battalion. The pair went on to establish a strong partnership with all branches of the U.S. military.
Two Phase 4 graduates spoke at the dedication – Army Sgt. Johnny Higgins Jr., a combat engineer in the Army Reserve, and Engine man Navy Petty Officer Austin Asche. About 7% of Phase 4 graduates enter the military every year.
Wade, now Registrar of the Army War College, was the keynote speaker.
Representatives from each of the military’s seven branches were on hand for the dedication ceremony.
“I gave each branch a key to the center so they can share this space, use it for community outreach, internal meeting, training, recruitment, just so there’s more of an awareness and a connection among the branches, as well as between the community and the branches,” Reed said.
Reed called her husband “bigger than life.” The two were together for nearly 40 years and had an unbreakable bond, she said.
“I always said we were Velcroed together,” she said.
While Tom Reed may not have been at the building dedication, his wife said his presence is felt throughout the armed forces career center that will now carry his name.
“He would be so proud, grateful and committed to this,” she said. “I know Tom’s spirit is in this place. He is full of joy, I’m sure. But I never thought I would be standing there at the opening myself, as we were always by each other’s side.”