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'A lot of people here get forgotten about,' says Coffeewood Correctional Center inmate Aaron Dean. Dean hugs his 10-year-old daughter, Celia, after graduating with an associate degree in business administration from Germanna yesterday. He went to prison two months after she was born.
Class valedictorian John Jones (right) practices his speech before the graduation ceremony at Coffeewood Correctional Center. To his left is Jorge Samudio Perez, one of 68 inmates who graduated at the prison yesterday.
Coffeewood inmate Shannon McLaughlin celebrates with his wife, Lyetta, after his GED graduation ceremony yesterday. |
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.
Before the ceremony began, the inmates lined up in the hallway outside the gym, waiting for their cue. They wore blue and crimson gowns and matching caps.
Gregorio Merced, 64, and Lee White, 43, are graduates of the Cooks and Bakers Apprenticeship.
"I was the class clown, but he was the inspiration," Merced said, pointing to White. "He always stood up and helped everyone."
White has nine months until he's released; Merced has 10 years left on a 1992 homicide conviction out of Fauquier County.
Joel Rodriguez and Lars Peterson, both 25, earned associate degrees from Southside Community College.
"We used to be 'cellies' back in Greensville," Peterson said, referring to another medium-security prison in Brunswick County. Both men began pursuing their degrees there.
When Rodriguez is released in 19 months, he said he plans to earn a bachelor's degree in architecture.
Peterson, who is eligible for release in 2007, wants to get his bachelor's in engineering. And then he's thinking about leaving the United States.
"I don't like the way this country is going, with the politics and so forth," he said. "I hear Belize is nice."
Tony Westry, 34, graduated as a certified fluid power master mechanic, a certified master technician and a certified specialist in mechanics.
"I'm the greatest mechanic who's ever graduated from this place," Westry said with a broad grin.
His instructor in industrial machine mechanics, Tim Walker, agreed.
"He's one of my star pupils," he said. "And he does an excellent job tutoring his classmates."
Westry has 29 days left on his five-year sentence.
"I can't even put this in words," he said. "I'm about to graduate from prison."
And then it was time. A guard with a pot belly whistled "Pomp and Circumstance" as the graduates filed by to enter the gymnasium.
After the speeches, the graduates were called up one by one. Loud hoots and hollers accompanied each graduate as he collected his diploma.
Aaron Dean, 31, earned an associate degree in business administration from Germanna. He's the first college graduate in his family, according to his very proud mother, Sharon Huddle.
"Dean, Dean, Dean," his fellow inmates chanted.
Michael Riley, 46, also earned an associate degree in business administration from Germanna. He began with the pilot program at Coffeewood 10 years ago.
It took a long time, he said, because Coffeewood didn't offer all of the requirements at first.
"It wasn't quick, but I was constantly learning something that I am sure I can apply," he said.
When he's released in 2008, he hopes to take over the janitorial business his mother, Nettie Parker, began.
"I want him to take it to the next level," she said.
Merced, who made fluffy white cake for the ceremony, said he may not work when he's released. He'll be 74, after all.
"They've got my body," he said, "but my mind is still mine."
To reach MELISSA NIX:
Email: mnix@freelancestar.com
