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| Penn. inmates help write texts in Braille |
| By The Morning Call |
| Published: 06/11/2001 |
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Al, who didn't want his last name used, and Kevin Coulbourn are inmates at the Bucks County Prison in Doylestown Township working on the Braille Project, a 13-year old program to provide a wide range of educational materials to blind students in Bucks County. It is a job they approach with enthusiasm and a sense of personal satisfaction. 'It feels good to help out,' says Coulbourn, a 31-year old from Chester County. An undertaking of the county prison, the Bucks County Intermediate Unit and the Lion and Lioness clubs of Bucks County, the Braille Project was founded in 1988 by Fran Musitano, a former special education teacher and Lions Club member. The prison provides the labor, the intermediate unit provides guidance, and the clubs have provided more than $20,000 to purchase computer equipment and other supplies during the 13 years the program has run. The Braille Project was the first program in the country to use county inmates to transcribe books and other instructional materials into braille, according to prison librarian Judith Clarke, who has supervised the program since it began. Other prisons, including state facilities, now run similar programs. The inmates work with Gail McQuown and Bill Ziegler from the intermediate unit to convert textbooks, worksheets and tests into braille. 'Whatever they need, we will do,' says Clarke. That means everything from a picture book for a second-grader to a textbook for an advanced-placement course on political philosophy for a high school senior. The benefits of the project are numerous. Teachers have more time for instruction. Students are able to participate more fully in regular classes because they have the same learning materials -- in braille -- as their classmates. And inmates in some cases are learning a skill they can use after release. Coulbourn says he intends to use what he learned to land a job after he's released next month. Clark said the program is important because it gives inmates meaningful work skills and keeps them busy during the long days of incarceration. Inmates say the braille program is one of the best jobs in the prison. Al says he spent his first month in prison without a job. The hours spent in his cell with nothing to do moved slowly, he says. 'I didn't like sitting around all day,' he says with a laugh. 'It gave me too much time to think about things.' Now, as a key member of the Braille Project, Al is putting his computer skills to good use. At a Christmas party in December, Al got a chance to meet some of the pupils his work benefits. 'To see them and the gratitude in their faces, it was amazing,' he says. 'If feels good to help the community. 'And,' Al says, 'it gets me off the block. What little bit of freedom you can get in here is a privilege.' |
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