I'm teaching in prison, now -- and loving it!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

OK, this is something I swore I would NEVER do, and yet, here I am, preparing lesson plans for a dozen convicted criminals, going through the training, and traipsing the 200 yards from the parking lot, through the security checkpoints, across the North Yard to the education building.

Colorado’s largest prison opened in my hometown a decade ago, and one of the first things DOC did was start hiring teachers. My father, a retired policeman with brand spankin’ new BA credentials, signed up to teach art and English. Many of my friends finished their college or technical certification programs and went to work teaching inmates everything from English, art and history to industrial welding to IT networking. Everybody said it was the best thing they’d ever done. I was asked twice by the local college to go through the application process and teach at the prison; each time I declined. It just wasn’t a place I wanted to be.

This fall, as a result of my yet-to-be-completed graduate work in English, I was asked by the college to teach freshman English to two classes of regular college freshmen. I jumped at the chance. A week after the semester started, the lady in charge of outreach called me and pleaded with me to teach a similar class at the prison. I finally relented – she’s one of the biggest reasons I’m in grad school and on the adjunct list at the local juco. With more than a little trepidation, I attended the one-day training class for contract teachers and volunteers, toured the prison again and, the following Monday evening, trudged in to meet the class.

I’m hooked. Yeah, they’re manipulative, needy, scheming convicts with wa-a-a-ay too many tattoos and too much time on their hands. But they’re also intelligent, witty, curious young men who learn quickly and are eager to please. If my regular college students had a fraction of the enthusiasm and interest that these guys have, they’d all get A’s. They produce excellent handwritten essays without any access to on-line references, almost no library, and no access to computer technology of any kind.

Why the hell didn’t I do this ten years ago!?

2

Congrats, Sunrazor.
What level prison is this? Maximum, moderate, or minimum security?
I once did a year’s volunteering at a minimum security men’s prison in Minnesota. Psychologist’s assistant, teaching stress reduction/meditation. It was a good experience, but it is a tad strange when those prison doors close behind you.

3

That’s awesome, man. I bet you’ll end up with plenty of interesting stories from this experience; make sure to keep us posted on how it goes.

4

That’s great - if you are truly enjoying yourself, I think you’ll find yourself in a positive feedback loop, where the inmates enjoy it more, and you enjoy it more, and so on.

5

This prison has everything from minimum to “close” (what used to be called maximum) security. The only thing it doesn’t have is death row, which is in Canon City.

We were told – and my dad and some others have confirmed – that prison employees can suffer burnout if they don’t take fairly long vacations every once in a while. I’ll only do the 6-week accelerated classes, so that shouldn’t be a problem. It does begin to seep into your mind quickly, though. After just three classes, I had my first “prison” dream – dreamt I was an inmate at the mercy of aggressive guards. Never had one of those before. I hope it’s the last.