Jails :
CEA Forums
This SIG discusses the issues and concerns of correctional educators working in short-term detention facilities.
One Jail, One Room, Many Successes
Posted by:
Jerry Bednarowski
()
Date: January 19, 2008 06:03PM
The following article was written by Elynor Kimmel, a volunteer at the Ozuakee County (Wisconsin) Jail. It appeared in the January/February 2008 issue of the CEA-Wisconsin newsletter. The complete newsletter may be found at www.ceawisconsin.org.
One Jail, One Room, Many Successes
The Ozaukee County Jail Literacy Program (OCJLP) is housed in the Ozaukee County Justice Center on the south edge of Port Washington, Wisconsin. The jail houses about 220 inmates. Many are from this area, and others are being housed here pending sentence and transfer to prison. Of the current population, thirty are women, and nineteen are non-English speakers.
The Ozaukee County Jail Literacy program is a very small program housed in one 12x19 room in the jail. Our program is open to inmates who are 18 and older and do not have a high school diploma. Students work toward achieving a GED or HSED certificate and/or developing their literacy skills. We can accommodate up to ten students. Classes are held forty-five weeks of the year on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon.
The OCJLP has two full-time classroom teachers. Harriet Zale has been in the program for a year, mainly teaching math and science, as well as Life Skills. She came to Wisconsin three years ago from San Diego, California, where she had 32 years of experience in education. Harriet served as a classroom teacher, as a district administrator in Special Education, and as an elementary school principal. Elynor Kimmel has been with the Ozaukee program for two-and-a-half years, focusing on the reading and writing parts of the curriculum. For twenty-two years she taught junior high language arts in Stillwater, Minnesota.
A retired English and social studies teacher, Jane Goffin, serves as the school’s administrator and chief examiner for GED testing. When students are ready for a GED test, Jane administers the test in a small room adjoining our classroom. Jane is also our liaison with the OCJLP board.
When an inmate applies to our program, we forward his/her application to a deputy who serves as our liaison. He observes this applicant and determines whether or not he/she is a viable candidate. Our student roster is constantly changing; students are constantly coming in or moving on. Often when we come to the classroom in the morning, a student’s books will be on our desk with a note that s/he has been transferred. Sometimes this is just before the student would have taken a test. We feel a strong sense of loss.
Our classroom is much like the one-room school house. Most of our students sit around a big table, with one or two people in carrels by the side wall. Since every student is at a different point in his/her program, there is a lot of one-on-one instruction, and consequently, constant talking. As in a multi-age classroom, students help one another. A big chart on the blackboard records what each person has accomplished and when s/he is scheduled for GED tests.
We are pleased when we can work with a group on the same topic so that they have a sense of being part of a class and can benefit from others’ input. When studying drama as part of reading, students read plays aloud and experience “being” Lenny or George in Of Mice and Men. In writing, students receive both suggestions and affirmation when they share their pieces. We try to intersperse individual study with short discussions about maps, vocabulary words, or articles from the newspaper. We utilize and savor opportunities for teaching life skills in the moment and for practicing writing for real-life situations, like writing thank-you letters.
Three sessions of Life Skills are offered to the students on non-class days. Harriet Zale facilitates a program which promotes interaction and discussion of topics relevant to the students. The primary foci are goal setting and problem solving, but the discussions also include money management and parenting issues. Harriet believes the students are more willing to participate openly because they know her from the regular classroom.
Our students also have the opportunity to develop computer literacy. Christopher See, a teacher from the community, offers clusters of evening sessions at three skill levels: Beginning, Intermediate, and Excel.
Family literacy is another strand of the OCJLP program. Students who have children aged ten and under are invited to select a book from a collection provided by the literacy board. The student/parent practices reading his/her book aloud, and then s/he makes an audio tape, assisted by a board member. The books and tapes are mailed to the children.
When students are ready to graduate, either with a GED or an HSED, we invite members of the OCJLP board and members of the jail staff to be part of the event. It is always a day of excitement and hopefulness. Plaques on the wall display engraved names of all our graduates, who at this time number 206.
Our program was founded through the vision and perseverance of Nina Walker and Judy Johnson. Nina taught in the jail classroom during the first seven formative years and has continued to serve on the board and to be a strong advocate for the program in the community. Presently, she is president of the twelve-member OCJLP board. Our program is funded through contributions from the community and from grants.
The Ozaukee County Jail Literacy Program recently observed its fifteenth anniversary. On the day of the celebration, Jessica Doyle, wife of Wisconsin’s governor, visited our class and spoke at a reception in the Justice Center. Our students were very honored by her visit. Our program has also been highlighted on Fox News and local news publications.
We are proud of our students’ achievements. We invite you to meet Richard, one of this year’s success stories:
Richard was a tall young man from Mississippi, where they had no record of him attending school. Based on diagnostic scores, we didn’t expect that he could progress far enough in his time with us to pass a GED test. But he studied assiduously, reading, questioning, writing journals, mastering a thick pile of index cards with new vocabulary words, using those words, memorizing the grammar rules. Finally, he qualified to take the GED reading test. But he had never read a book, so we insisted that, before taking the test, he read To Kill a Mockingbird. Every morning he would come to class bursting with reaction: “I got so mad at that book! That man was innocent and they convicted him!” When he finished, he told the class, “That was the best book I ever read!” He had become a born-again reader. After our class watched the Gregory Peck movie together, Richard explained why the book was much better. When Richard was released after five months (58 days) in class, he had passed GED Reading, Writing, and Math. He had a sparkle in his eyes, and, clearly, he had a sense of worth. We hope he has found an open door.
by: Elynor Kimmel, Ozaukee County Jail
elynorkimmel@yahoo.com
One Jail, One Room, Many Successes
The Ozaukee County Jail Literacy Program (OCJLP) is housed in the Ozaukee County Justice Center on the south edge of Port Washington, Wisconsin. The jail houses about 220 inmates. Many are from this area, and others are being housed here pending sentence and transfer to prison. Of the current population, thirty are women, and nineteen are non-English speakers.
The Ozaukee County Jail Literacy program is a very small program housed in one 12x19 room in the jail. Our program is open to inmates who are 18 and older and do not have a high school diploma. Students work toward achieving a GED or HSED certificate and/or developing their literacy skills. We can accommodate up to ten students. Classes are held forty-five weeks of the year on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon.
The OCJLP has two full-time classroom teachers. Harriet Zale has been in the program for a year, mainly teaching math and science, as well as Life Skills. She came to Wisconsin three years ago from San Diego, California, where she had 32 years of experience in education. Harriet served as a classroom teacher, as a district administrator in Special Education, and as an elementary school principal. Elynor Kimmel has been with the Ozaukee program for two-and-a-half years, focusing on the reading and writing parts of the curriculum. For twenty-two years she taught junior high language arts in Stillwater, Minnesota.
A retired English and social studies teacher, Jane Goffin, serves as the school’s administrator and chief examiner for GED testing. When students are ready for a GED test, Jane administers the test in a small room adjoining our classroom. Jane is also our liaison with the OCJLP board.
When an inmate applies to our program, we forward his/her application to a deputy who serves as our liaison. He observes this applicant and determines whether or not he/she is a viable candidate. Our student roster is constantly changing; students are constantly coming in or moving on. Often when we come to the classroom in the morning, a student’s books will be on our desk with a note that s/he has been transferred. Sometimes this is just before the student would have taken a test. We feel a strong sense of loss.
Our classroom is much like the one-room school house. Most of our students sit around a big table, with one or two people in carrels by the side wall. Since every student is at a different point in his/her program, there is a lot of one-on-one instruction, and consequently, constant talking. As in a multi-age classroom, students help one another. A big chart on the blackboard records what each person has accomplished and when s/he is scheduled for GED tests.
We are pleased when we can work with a group on the same topic so that they have a sense of being part of a class and can benefit from others’ input. When studying drama as part of reading, students read plays aloud and experience “being” Lenny or George in Of Mice and Men. In writing, students receive both suggestions and affirmation when they share their pieces. We try to intersperse individual study with short discussions about maps, vocabulary words, or articles from the newspaper. We utilize and savor opportunities for teaching life skills in the moment and for practicing writing for real-life situations, like writing thank-you letters.
Three sessions of Life Skills are offered to the students on non-class days. Harriet Zale facilitates a program which promotes interaction and discussion of topics relevant to the students. The primary foci are goal setting and problem solving, but the discussions also include money management and parenting issues. Harriet believes the students are more willing to participate openly because they know her from the regular classroom.
Our students also have the opportunity to develop computer literacy. Christopher See, a teacher from the community, offers clusters of evening sessions at three skill levels: Beginning, Intermediate, and Excel.
Family literacy is another strand of the OCJLP program. Students who have children aged ten and under are invited to select a book from a collection provided by the literacy board. The student/parent practices reading his/her book aloud, and then s/he makes an audio tape, assisted by a board member. The books and tapes are mailed to the children.
When students are ready to graduate, either with a GED or an HSED, we invite members of the OCJLP board and members of the jail staff to be part of the event. It is always a day of excitement and hopefulness. Plaques on the wall display engraved names of all our graduates, who at this time number 206.
Our program was founded through the vision and perseverance of Nina Walker and Judy Johnson. Nina taught in the jail classroom during the first seven formative years and has continued to serve on the board and to be a strong advocate for the program in the community. Presently, she is president of the twelve-member OCJLP board. Our program is funded through contributions from the community and from grants.
The Ozaukee County Jail Literacy Program recently observed its fifteenth anniversary. On the day of the celebration, Jessica Doyle, wife of Wisconsin’s governor, visited our class and spoke at a reception in the Justice Center. Our students were very honored by her visit. Our program has also been highlighted on Fox News and local news publications.
We are proud of our students’ achievements. We invite you to meet Richard, one of this year’s success stories:
Richard was a tall young man from Mississippi, where they had no record of him attending school. Based on diagnostic scores, we didn’t expect that he could progress far enough in his time with us to pass a GED test. But he studied assiduously, reading, questioning, writing journals, mastering a thick pile of index cards with new vocabulary words, using those words, memorizing the grammar rules. Finally, he qualified to take the GED reading test. But he had never read a book, so we insisted that, before taking the test, he read To Kill a Mockingbird. Every morning he would come to class bursting with reaction: “I got so mad at that book! That man was innocent and they convicted him!” When he finished, he told the class, “That was the best book I ever read!” He had become a born-again reader. After our class watched the Gregory Peck movie together, Richard explained why the book was much better. When Richard was released after five months (58 days) in class, he had passed GED Reading, Writing, and Math. He had a sparkle in his eyes, and, clearly, he had a sense of worth. We hope he has found an open door.
by: Elynor Kimmel, Ozaukee County Jail
elynorkimmel@yahoo.com
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.