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Great Ball Players

Mardea Reeves- Karpeh

By Getahn Ward

Mydea Reeves-Karpeh remembers well getting laughed at for her Bassa twang and the role that teachers such as Father Emmanuel Johnson played in putting her at ease in her first year as a student at B.W. Harris Episcopal High School during the mid-’60s.

It was those early seeds of compassion that inspired Reeves-Karpeh to pursue a career in education, choosing as a specialty working with students with special needs.

Having risen to the rank of assistant principal with Baltimore public schools, she’s aiming even higher to become a principal. At the same time, Reeves-Karpeh has occupied important leadership roles with several Liberian organizations in the United States, using as an inspiration the B.W. Harris motto of “Perseverance, Achievement, Quality.”

“Intellect, faith and integrity are values I learned in the Walls of Sparta,” said Reeves-Karpeh, who arrived at B.W. Harris from Fortsville in Grand Bassa County. “If you want to accomplish your goals in life, you have to persevere, achieve and achieve quality.”

Shy girl turns community leader

Reeves-Karpeh recalls being a self-described nerd during her four years at B.W. Harris School, graduating as valedictorian of her class of 1969. After graduating from the University of Liberia four years later, she earned a scholarship to purse a master of public administration degree at the University of Southern California.

She would return home and use that degree in roles such as senior development specialist with the Liberian Institute of Public Administration, personnel director with the Ministry of Education and human resources development manager with the Liberian Electricity Corp. In 1985, Reeves-Karpeh would pack up her bags and return to the United States as the political climate deteriorated after the failed coup attempt led by General Thomas Quiwonkpa.

“I saw myself as a change-agent,” Reeves-Karpeh said. “But sometimes what you believe in conflicts with what the status quo is and so you find yourself in a situation in which you’re uncomfortable or it’s not in your best interest to remain in that state.”

After obtaining her teacher’s certification, she began working for Baltimore City Public School, starting as a special education/resource teacher in the late ’80s. Since 2000, she’s been individualized education program chair, administering training of instructional staff and assigning caseload of special education students based on state and federal guidelines.

A busy work schedule and family duties including single-handedly raising her son aside, Reeves-Karpeh has found time to give back to her alma mater and the Liberian community at large in the United States.

She served as second vice chairman of the B.W. Harris Alumni Association in the administration for former chairman Kwaku Addy and led its “We Touch the Future” capital campaign.

Reeves-Karpeh also helped launch the United Bassa Organization in the Americas in 1991, serving as president for four years between 1993 and 1997 and chairman until this year. She made history by becoming the first female president of the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas in 25 years. Highlights of her tenure from 1999 to 2002 included a testimony before a U.S. congressional sub-committee during which she called former Liberian President Charles Taylor a terrorist. ULAA also pressed for President George W. Bush’s eventual intervention in asking Taylor to leave Liberia, bringing an end to the 14-year civil war.

“It helped the country start on the course of multiparty democracy and transition to peace,” Reeves-Karpeh said. Reeves-Karpeh remains chairman of ULAA’s Council of Eminent Persons, a group that includes all of the organization’s former presidents and chairman of the board.

She also helped to start People’s Community Lutheran Church in Baltimore, a multicultural and predominantly Liberian community of believers. About 50 children, mostly of Liberian descent, attended the church’s recent Vacation Bible School.

Growing up in Liberia, Reeves-Karpeh recalls wanting to become an Episcopalian. Her father’s response was that she was eating food in a Baptist home and so she had to worship with the family at Providence Baptist Church.

Leading by humility

Analyzing the state of Liberian organizations in the United States, Reeves-Karpeh said a common problem is leaders allowing egos to get in the way of good leadership.

Forty years removed from her days at B.W. Harris, she credits lessons learned about humility for helping to keep her grounded and remembering that she once was in the same place as those that she leads.

Reeves-Karpeh, who currently is working on the B.W. Harris High School capital campaign with Rev. Budu Shannon, said she would like to see more done to make the older alumni feel more of a part of the association. Some coming to conventions have been made to feel like they’re old and not as valuable, she said.

These days, Reeves-Karpeh said she’s limiting her roles in various organizations to focus on preparing for a test to allow her to rise to the role of principal. She’s also enjoying another role, having become a grandmother for the second time.

“This is an opportunity to help your children to transmit the cultural values that you learned growing up in high school,” Reeves-Karpeh said. She remains grateful for the positive impact administrators such as Father King, Father Johnson and Mr. Bedell had on her own life. “B.W. Harris offered an extraordinary educational environment that we can recognized in our daily lives,” Reeves-Karpeh said. “To unleash our greatness, we must always be seeking for wisdom and knowledge.”