In 2007 I had two part time jobs:
- Teaching computer science at the local college
- Teaching computer skills workshops for a local government agency (KCDEE).
The route I drove from one job to the next took me past a
minimum security prison. This was a prison that allowed the inmates to leave
for jobs in the city every day.
Every day I drove past that prison I would remember those
words:
“You do not get to turn your back on this place after you
leave”
I remember thinking, Why me? I can barely keep my own life
together. I am not the person for this job. The thought was persistent. I began
to wonder. Could I do volunteer teaching to inmates? I could do it in one of
KCDEE's computer labs. Could get the warden bus inmates to the computer lab?
Seemed like an impossibility.
First order of business was to approach the director of
KCDEE. I did that and she signed off on my idea. Then I went to see the warden.
Within a few months the warden began
bussing inmates/students to my class. I taught the same material I was teaching
at the college. I provided the textbooks with money out of my own pocket.
The first day of the first class felt like a miracle. A
genuine miracle. It felt like density. This felt like a gift from God. This
felt like meaningful work. The most meaningful work I’d ever done. Six months
after my volunteer efforts began the warden gave me an award for my volunteer
efforts. I felt as much pride for that award as I did for my college degrees,
maybe even a little prouder.
Sadly it all had to end after six months. My schedule became
too busy
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