Survivors Launch Youth Fitness Center

From the Beaver County Times:

A new fitness facility and mentoring program in Beaver County offers high school students lessons in beating adversity.

Terrie Suica-Reed, an educator from Georgetown, and Guy'o Casuccio, a personal trainer from Monaca, opened Ultimate Fitness by Casuccio and Phase 4 at 115 Stone Quarry Road in Center Township to provide students with personal training, academic counseling and career mentoring.

Suica-Reed is the founder of Phase 4 Learning Center, a private secondary school created to help disadvantaged people earn their high school diplomas. A breast and lymphatic cancer survivor, Suica-Reed was told she had six months to live more than 30 years ago.



She taught english at South Side Area High from 1994 to 2001 and helped establish the first alternative education program in Pennsylvania before starting Phase 4 Learning Center.

“Teens need to know that no matter what they are going through, they can make it and there are people who understand,” she said. “Relationships with caring adults, along with hope, make all the difference.”

Casuccio, a skilled personal trainer and business owner, has survived four kidney transplants and a near-fatal brain injury that left him in a monthslong coma. He credits his physical conditioning with preparing him to fight kidney disease and other traumatic events in his life.

Now, he wants to mentor teens by building their self-esteem and work ethic “as they build their own physiques while gaining control and developing a positive outlook,” he said.

The facility opened Nov. 1. Appointments can be made by calling 724-462-1241.