Senior portraits
Students Ciara Turner and Rasaun Brown optimistic as they begin their final year of high school
Ciara Turner is 17. She was this year’s Woodland Hills homecoming queen and says she’s addicted to shoes, jeans and necklaces — but she’s not a girly girl. She has always played sports and grew up across the street from the Wolvarena in a “football house.” Her room has a wall full of basketball shoes and Vans.
Also in her room are pictures of her twin brother, Jerame — on her dresser mirror, on the wall, on poster boards she or friends made.
He was shot and killed in November in Turtle Creek.
The worst time is night, she said. That’s when she thinks about Jerame.
She said her brother would have been really excited that she won homecoming queen.
“He was like a real like jokester, like he was super funny. Even like when we got in trouble or something, my mom would end up laughing too . ... I know he would be like super excited.”
Thinking of that made her cry when it was announced at school during a pep rally.
She said she is committed to helping kids like her who are dealing with gun violence. She is working with fellow Homecoming Court member Rasaun Brown to start a peer mentoring group at Woodland Hills called the “Successful Steppers Movement, Leading the Generation to Motivation.” The group will focus on peer mentoring and violence awareness.
The Post-Gazette will be focusing on the efforts of Ciara and Rasaun during the school year.
Like Ciara, Rasaun is a 17-year-old senior at Woodland Hills Junior/Senior High School. He lives in Braddock and has seven sisters.
Since the 10th grade, he has been part of the career development program and attends auto mechanic classes at Forbes Road Career and Technology Center.
He works with the Braddock Youth Project, where he is on the media team and is also employed with the Young Autonomous Art Zone at the Braddock Carnegie Library, where he is a peer mentor and has been able to print shirts for his clothing line “Cash Flow Clothing.”
His plans after high school are to attend a program to be a certified mechanic and also pursue a business degree with a minor in fashion apparel design. Besides fashion, he has an interest in boxing and will be training soon for an upcoming amateur fight.
“I love Pittsburgh,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll ever leave. Like I might go away for some time, but I’ll definitely be back.”