Prisoners Teaching Prisoners

Prisoners Teaching Prisoners

It’s a Friday afternoon, and the inmates of FCI-Petersburg a federal prison in Petersburg, Virginia – are abuzz. Some are playing handball or basketball in the recreation yard. As highlights are shown, others are watching ESPN and banging loudly upon tables and trashcans. And still others are stealing food out of the kitchen or engaging in any other number of ‘hustles.’ This is typical of a federal prison.

What’s not typical is a group of what appear to be students hunkered down in room 105 of the Education Department. They sit quietly at their desks, pens in hand, taking notes. Their instructor is not a staff member or a guard, as expected, but a fellow prisoner named Bill Batton. These inmates are not students but inmate instructors in FCI-Petersburg’s Adult Continuing Education Program.

The Adult Continuing Education (ACE) program is an innovative solution to budgetary restrictions and low educational staff numbers. The program revolves around educated inmate instructors teaching their fellow prisoners. This allows the inmate instructors to find a sense of meaning and purpose while behind bars and simultaneously provides the inmate students with the opportunity to increase their knowledge about various subjects.

The classes offered are surprisingly diverse. In the last year, FCI-Petersburg’s ACE program has provided the following courses to interested inmates:

  • Accounting
  • Auto Sales
  • Barber Science (informational, not hands-on)
  • Basic Math
  • Business Management 1 & 2
  • Business Planning
  • Commercial Driver’s License (informational, not licensure)
  • Economics
  • Electronic Law Library Introduction
  • Electronic Theory
  • Film Critique
  • Home Inspection
  •  HVAC
  • Legal Basics
  • Legal: Post-Conviction Remedies
  • Military History 1, 2, & 3
  • Money Management
  • NAPA Vehicle Repair (informational, not hands-on)
  • Pawn Shop Ownership
  • Personal Finance
  • Public Speaking
  • Restaurant Ownership
  • Spanish 1 & 2
  • US Trivia
  • Writing and Publishing

The fantastic part of the ACE program is that it costs the prison practically nothing to operate. The inmate instructors create the lesson plans, provide the required materials, and teach the classes. For this, each instructor receives $10 per quarter. With 13 inmate instructors teaching approximately 260 students each quarter, the immediate cost is $130, plus making any copies that the instructor might need. (Full Disclosure: Inmate instructors also receive one dry-erase marker, one pad of paper, and enough pencils and paper folders for each student to have one. Also, some classes have received textbooks paid for by the Education Department). Putting aside the ethics of paying someone $10 per 12 hours of in-class instruction and another one or two dozen hours of prep time, this is a remarkable program because it is economical and efficient. Talk about utilizing existing resources!

This is an inspiring program. It shows how inmates – persons deemed too dangerous to remain in society — can make a difference even while confined. The ACE program shows how prisons nationwide can offer low-cost, diverse educational programming that utilizes existing resources and classroom space. But most of all, it shows that compassion and actual transformational change are still possible even in the depths of a federal prison.

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