Va. Prison Officials Unveil Finished Classrooms at Wallens Ridge

Article Tools Print This Page | Comments(0) | Suggest a Story

By Coalfield Progress

Published: 08/06/2003

The mission of Wallens Ridge State Prison has changed, and new facilities are nearly completed that will bring classroom education online to support that mission. Built to house Level 6 inmates - the most violent in the state prison system and the worst troublemakers at other prisons - Wallens Ridge now houses mostly Level 5 inmates, many of whom have the chance to be paroled someday.
Many Level 5 inmates qualify for the privilege of classroom instruction, and officials hope to offer classes to groups of 10 inmates per class by mid-August, according to Warden Stan Young.
Young and his staff hosted an open house at the prison July 18, letting visitors see how a big open room formerly used for storage has been transformed into a miniature school.
Visitors entered the space at near-ceiling level and strolled across metal grate catwalks 12 feet above the new hallways separating rooms. They saw three large classrooms, a library and a handful of smaller rooms to be used for storage and related needs.
The rooms are not yet furnished, but new blackboards already adorn classroom walls.
The rooms have no ceilings, and the tops of walls are lined with rolls of razor wire. An officer will patrol the catwalks throughout class periods, watching for trouble. If firepower is needed, an officer can aim a weapon directly into a classroom or through gun ports opening down to the hallways. Also, officers will be in radio contact with a security office nearby, which will monitor each classroom using video cameras.
Young's boss, Roanoke-based Department of Corrections regional manager Larry Huffman, told visitors that the new facilities will provide a critical element now missing from the Wallens Ridge program - eye-to-eye contact between a teacher and students in a traditional classroom setting.
Currently, inmates have access to pre-college and college-level courses in their cells through the prison's closed-circuit television network. Instruction is supplemented by videotapes and tutors who visit the cell.
Department of Correctional Education instructors say visiting a cell can be unpleasant. The student typically is serious and respectful, but his neighboring inmates sometimes make degrading, disturbing comments when teachers come by.
Huffman said the classrooms will expand the education staff's ability to teach inmates skills to help them survive after parole, and to get along better while incarcerated. Among the most important are the ability to get up on time in the morning, be prepared for the task and manage themselves socially, he said.
A lack of adequate social skills is often what landed someone in prison, Huffman said.

SAVING THE EDUCATION PROGRAM
Last year, state budget cuts wiped out existing plans to begin offering classroom teaching and a new library at Wallens Ridge. In fact, the cuts threatened to eliminate the Department of Correctional Education's existing program of televised courses and tutor visits.
But earlier this year, state Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol, and Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, fought a hard, successful battle to get education funds restored.
The best rehabilitation program is education, Young said.
Officials are now screening inmates for classroom eligibility based on their academic level and needs, and their ability to follow the rules, he said. The severity of the crime that landed them in Wallens Ridge is not relevant.
'If you behave yourself, you get to come over here,' he said.
Young estimated that DCE will work with about 100 inmates per day in the new 'school.'
Principal Mark Hutchinson, who manages education programs at Wallens Ridge and Red Onion State Prison, said, 'We are exceedingly excited by what's about to happen here. We get to be in front of students and educate.'
The facility will benefit from the talents of three academic teachers, one vocational teacher, a special education teacher, a cognitive skills teacher who helps inmates manage anger and learn to make good decisions, and a librarian, Hutchinson said. Each teacher will be assigned an inmate serving as a tutor, he added.
Each classroom will have five computers. Inmates thus far haven't had access to a computer, Hutchinson noted. DCE allocated $200,000 for him to provide state-of-the-art technology, he said.
The prison already had a library with materials to improve reading comprehension, Hutchinson explained, and will now have a full-service academic library, including a magazine and newspaper section.
Inmates will be taught according to their individual academic level, he said.
Instruction will range from functional literacy to passing the high school GED exam. Also, the prison already offers a college-level distance learning program through Ohio University.
In one way, teaching inmates can be more rewarding than teaching public school students, who may or may not be genuinely interested in the subject matter, Hutchinson noted.
Inmates come to class because they sincerely want to learn, and appreciate what they get from it, he said.
'The third day I was here, I was approached by an inmate in his 50s. He had tears in his eyes. He couldn't thank me enough because we got picture books for the library. He needed them because he couldn't read.'

Comments:

No comments have been posted for this article.

Login to let us know what you think

MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search