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Behind bars: the transformative power of prison education

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Anyone who has ever graduated from anything — high school, college, maybe even a graduate program — knows the ceremony and its rhythms: The students, in caps and gowns; the school officials welcoming everyone; handing out diplomas. At some point, a speaker congratulates the graduates but also tries to inspire them, hinting at the challenges in life that lay ahead, and how to respond in those moments. My own graduation ceremonies came years ago. This year, I found myself in the speaker’s role. I stood in front of rows of capped and gowned students, and proud families there to support them. But I wasn’t at a college or a university. I would speak to the proud graduates of the educational programs at the State Correctional Institution Greene in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. What could I say to inspire these students, and to help them meet challenges quite different than those of a person leaving college? What would help them find not just pride in this achievement, but the will to continue to

Anyone who has ever graduated from anything — high school, college, maybe even a graduate program — knows the ceremony and its rhythms: The students, in caps and gowns; the school officials welcoming everyone; handing out diplomas. At some point, a speaker congratulates the graduates but also tries to inspire them, hinting at the challenges in life that lay ahead, and how to respond in those moments. My own graduation ceremonies came years ago. This year, I found myself in the speaker’s role. I stood in front of rows of capped and gowned students, and proud families there to support them. But

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