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For 68 inmates, time well spent Class of 2006 at Coffeewood Correctional Center: Inmates Earn Associate Degrees, Certificates Date published: 5/13/2006 By MELISSA NIX By MELISSA NIX John Jones, 36, is valedictorian of his class. He's made the president's list every year at Germanna Community College. He has a 4.0 grade point average and is a role model for his peers. He's also serving a 45-year prison sentence for kidnapping. Jones is a member of a very special class on a very special campus--one ringed with barbed wire and guard towers. Sixty-eight Coffeewood Correctional Center inmates received diplomas, GEDs or vocational certificates in a graduation ceremony at the prison. Another 41 Coffeewood inmates who could not attend were also honored as members of the Department of Correctional Education's Class of 2006. "I was 24 when I came to prison," Jones said during his valedictory speech. "I had plenty of time to think about all the time I wasted and people I'd let down. "Sometimes life goes wrong for us--and I mean all of us. I'm living proof that if you work hard and set goals, you can get there." Jones, who earned an associate of arts and sciences in general studies from Germanna, received a standing ovation from the nearly 200 faculty, fellow classmates and family members gathered for the ceremony. Coffeewood is a medium-security prison in Orange County. It's home to 1,200 men serving sentences of 20 years or less, or with less than than 20 years left to serve, said Warden Senior Jeff Dillman. "The overwhelming majority of these men will see the streets," Dillman said. That's why a key part of the facility's mission is to prepare the inmates for a return to society. "It's called a correctional facility," Dillman said. "We're here to correct." Graduates yesterday carried initial sentences that ranged from four years to 47. They earned sentence reductions by completing certain goals on their "treatment plans." The plans can include educational mandates--such as earning a General Equivalency Diploma. John Mazuch, Coffeewood's English and Spanish literacy instructor, said the various educational programs give his students "the tools necessary" to make their return home successful. He loves his work. "They have so many things working against them, it's very inspiring to see pupils succeed," Mazuch said.
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