I have been asked why we didn't check the Whitmore Academy out more closely before enrolling Zita?
I seems lame now, but we THOUGHT we had.
Thinking we were sending our daughter to an academic boarding school that offered therapy for Reactive Attachment Disorder:
We checked the creditials/License of the therapist, Tim Lowe and found he was in good standing and had no law suits against him.
We interviewed him, and liked him.
We read all we could find about Whitmore Academy, and WRONGLY ASSUMED the information was true: The Who Am I Discovery brochures were impressive, & we believed the Sudweeks had schools in Mexico, Canada. We believed staff in their Equine Horse program were trained under Monty Roberts, "The Horse Whisperer." We believed their school as advertises was "fully accredited" and that theteachers were certified.
Mainly, we believed Sue Scheff of P.U.R.E. who referred us to Whitmore Academy. Why?She "saved us from enrolling our daughter at Majestic Ranch, a WWASP program," after I called her.
The first 3 weeks of Zita's enrollment at Whitmore, the Sudweeks had the students at Lake Powell. Our concerns were the "normal parent worries," was she safe doing water activities, was she homesick, did she like the kids, was her school work going OK??...that sort of thing.
Immediately we became concerned with Mark and Cheryl Sudweeks, and Whitmore Academy, itself--- and I voiced these concerns to Sue Scheff.
One concern: the lack of any contact from the Sudweeks. We knew they had cell phones at Lake Powell. We deserved, AT LEAST, a phone call that Zita, age 12 was adjusting OK with a group of total strangers.
Another concern: Given access to the Whitmore Weblog,we discovered the students at Whitmore were ALL older teenagers. It was obvious there were no 12-14 young girls Zita's age as we had been told by Sue Scheff prior to enrolling her.
I contacted Sue Scheff and voiced this concern, since I was uncomfortable having my 12 year old daughter around a group of only older teenagers.
Sue Scheff's October 18, 2004 email addressed my
concerns about the: 1) lack of contact with the Sudweeks 2) lack of any students Zita's age
Sue Scheff said, "I want to put your mind at ease. Once you meet Mark and Cheryl all your worries will be so small. From the bottom of my heart they are the most loving and caring people I have ever met... I honestly believe they are a gift from Above. Ask anyone about Cheryl's smile, it is infectious."
This DID NOT ADDRESS the lack of contact!
Sue Scheff said:" 3 girls 13 years old are going to Whitmore this week from my area. It will be nice for Zita to have girls her own age...."
No three girls age 13 were EVER enrolled during my daughter's stay at Whitmore.
I checked with Tim Lowe, while the group was at Lake Powell, and he verified that no new girls had enrolled at Whitmore.
I emailed Sue Scheff again about there being no girls Zita's age as she had promised... and TWO new concerns: 1)Animal Abuse in Canada, and 2) New Hope Academy in Samoa and The Sudweek's business association with Steve Cartisano.
Sue Scheff's email of October 24, 2004
She said: "The issue in Canada was awful, just terrible. It nearly destroyed Mark and Cheryl emotionally. Mark just plead guilty to put it behind them."
She did not mention Steve Cartisano at all, but said: "I did not hear of the incident with the Wilderness Program. I am going to ask Maria about it. Down in Samoa? Strange."
She did not mention the 3 girls who just "never showed up at Whitmore" but went on to discuss 3 OTHER ENTIRELY DIFFERENT "potential students:"
"The 3 girls are coming in are confidential information. 2 sisters (l is adopted and one biological)........Then the 1 girl is also adopted, she may be a foreign adoption, I don't recall."
(Sue Scheff disclosed confidential information about these 3 potential students, and their parents that I surely would not want her telling about my family.)
During my daughter's enrollment at Whitmore, none of these girls ever showed up at Whitmore EITHER. Sue Scheff just kept promising us that girls Zita's age "would be enrolling."
Zita's first 3 weeks at Whitmore were spent at Lake Powell, and we had no contact with her.
After Zita retunred Whitmore in Nephi we became even more concerned! Our communications with Zita were limited by the Sudweeks. When we received ONE email from Zita, it was obvious that it was not written by her,and it was written at 3:12 AM -- this really conerned us!
Things we read in a PPI, a self-report by Zita gave us great concerns. At this point I wrote Mark Sudweeks an email on November 10, 2004 informing him my husband was coming to Utah to pick up Zita.
This email resulted in a conference call with Cheryl,her daughter Trinity & Zita'scounselor David--we decided to leave Zita at Whitmore 2 more weeks. This was the FIRST and ONLY time I ever spoke to,OR received any communications from Cheryl Sudweeks, although I had left approximately 15 messages for her to call me.
Then the abuse allegations arose, and we picked Ziat up from Whitmore on November 27,2004.
Had I followed my instincts,OR I asked myself these questions seriously-- perhaps Zita would have come home right away, and not have been abused.
For what purpose does Sue Scheff continue to send me emails and lie to me?
Why does Cheryl Sudweeks refuse to talk to me? Why won't the Sudweeks let us talk with Zita?
Why is Zita so depressed and sad?
Why is Zita up at 3AM in the morning?
Why isn't Zita going to school?
Why isn't Zita doing the Equine horse program?
Why isn't Zita playing outside in the snow?
Why does Zita keep asking for an Airport Card
when her computer doesnot need one?
Why is everything KIDS REPORTING ON KIDS?
Why can't anyone explain Subliminals?
Why are sick kids forced to go to church?
