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| Conn. Prison Holds Ceremony For GED Graduates |
| By Hartford Courant |
| Published: 08/26/2002 |
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Charles L. Cox remembered the day this spring when he found himself back in a classroom, sitting in a desk and staring straight ahead at a blackboard. 'I dreaded it,' Cox, 25, said recently. 'I couldn't believe I signed up for this.' But Cox said his resistance quickly dissolved when he realized his educational experience at the Willard-Cybulski Correctional Institution would be different from his high school days years ago. 'It's more one on one,' he said of his second round. 'I didn't understand anything about geometry or algebra until I got here.' Hitting the books 21/2 hours a day, five days a week to pass the GED exams paid off for Cox and his fellow Willard-Cybulski classmates. He and nearly 40 other inmates at the minimum-security prison donned their caps and gowns for the morning graduation ceremony. About 50 family and friends gathered in the visiting area of the complex's Cybulski building to watch the turning of the tassels. Most of the inmates were there to be honored for earning their high school equivalency, but a few received professional certification in auto body repair and culinary arts and one received his associate's degree. Cox, who said he dropped out of high school at 17 to work and support his children, expects to leave the facility in two years. Principal Frank A. Preston said that all told, about 75 Willard-Cybulski inmates in the past year have bested the GED, which now stands for General Educational Development tests. The high school equivalency exams cover language arts, social studies, science and math. Preston said that because many of the inmates have had such negative experiences in school, the institution has established a powerful motivator: Those who do not hold a high school diploma must try to advance their education if they want to be considered for privileges such as moving to a halfway house. |
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