We are pleased to announce that in one week, on Saturday, September 17, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Missouri CURE will be holding their Annual Statewide Conference. Topics covered include: Reentry Parole Juvenile Justice Legislation At this conference lunch is provided, speakers will do their thing, workshops will be presented, and officers will
During my time in prison I have come across few staff members willing to go the extra mile. This is an unfortunate statement, but a true one. Too often doors are closed just because of it being a prisoner asking. Too often the prisoner is viewed as a deceiver or someone looking for trouble, trying to take advantage of even the smallest iota of compassion shown. This, in itself, is a very challenging perception and expectation to overcome.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that all prisoners are good people. This is because they aren’t. I know enough people in prison – some who are really bad people – to know that prisons serve a purpose and that I’m glad some of these people are in here. My frustration stems from when those in prison who are trying to do better are grouped with those trying to do less. This manifests itself in very unfortunate ways for those of us on the right side of the issue.
However, this post isn’t about the way prisoners are looked at or the difficulty of being guilty by association. This post is about a staff member here at FCI-Petersburg who has managed to look past my prison uniform – and those of my fellow prisoner educators (prisoners who educate) – and see me as a person, and perhaps even as a professional. As such, much progress has been accomplished.
Two programs offered here at FCI-Petersburg providing much needed skills are the Release Preparation Program (RPP) and the Parenting classes. Both of these programs focus on much needed skill-building, skills that can make all of the difference once the prisoner is released. Let’s take each in turn.
Release Preparation Program
According to the FCI-Petersburg Inmate Admission and Orientation Handbook,
Our supplies, our technical equipment and our materials are quite scarce. For example, there have been times when we only received 20 pencils a month, and these were shared among 40 to 60 students each day. Someone in the bean counter’s office determined that one pencil should last for 129 pages. I used to get angry, now I just chuckle and make do the best I can.
My overhead projector was last repaired in 1988, according to the ticket on it. I recently obtained a TV, VCR and DVD player. A couple months ago a whiteboard was delivered, which I have been waiting for since I started teaching at the prison.
Today I have a treat for you. One of the students in my “Writing and Publishing” class passed along a fictional excerpt for me to review. After reading the piece I found that I really liked it. I suppose that I liked the excerpt because it doesn’t read as if written by a prisoner. Some
Introduction In colleges across the country, students desiring financial assistance are required to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This application, as its name suggests, is used to determine who qualifies for federal student aid and how much. Pell Grants and other need-based aid are assessed according to the FAFSA results.
Just as International CURE (Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants) is a support organization for the rights of international prisoners, NC-CURE is a great example of one of their state chapters.
In the hope that you will consider becoming a member of your state’s chapter of CURE I am enclosing excerpts from NC-CURE’s promotional information. This should give you a good idea of what
CURE does on both the national-level and state-level. A modified (edited) form of the text reads as follows:
An education’s value depends upon the individual’s social status and characteristics.
To the primary- or secondary-school student, an education is an event that must be put up with. They go to school because their parents tell them to do so. They learn without realizing it and when summer comes around, school is forgotten in place of friends and camp. Life is small and small is good. At most, one will worry about SAT scores and which college they might want to go to.
For fourteen years, I have been the “mama bear” in a correctional facility, mostly teaching adult males between the ages of 18 to 75. I also have nearly a year’s experience in an all-male juvenile facility, with ages ranging from 12 to 18. So, I have experience with a full spectrum of ages.
The prison setting obviously has many cultural and ethnic backgrounds. We have Caucasians, African Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and probably any combination of the above.
The ability levels range from non-readers at kindergarten level, all the way to twelfth grade. Until recently, our school was departmentalized by subject area, and the students were also placed by academic level. Specifically, I taught the high-level math. These students were at the high school level; I instructed them in numbers and operations, measurement, algebra and geometry.