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Media Relations Office:
Bart Graves, Media Relations Administrator
1601 W. Jefferson
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
(602)
542-3133
May 1 - 7, 2005 is
celebrated nationally as Teachers Appreciation Week. It's another opportunity
for all of us at ADC to thank you for your steadfast service and measurable
outcomes. Our strong team of 150+ correctional educators plus community college
instructors and adjunct faculty, is the backbone of our instructional program
and is helping us to set sail as the flagship correctional system.
In less than two years' time, our cadre of Correctional Educators has gotten
more inmates into more classroom seats than at any other time in the
department's history. Not only have our colleagues in the school program
increased enrollment from just over 50 to nearly 95 percent, they've helped more
inmates reach the grade eight benchmark more quickly than ever and move onto
earn high school equivalency certification. From the time that we began our
work-based education initiative in July 2003, the number of inmates in our
teachers' classrooms receiving the GED certification nearly doubled in FY 2004
from just under 800 to almost 1450 graduates and is expected to just about
double again in FY 2005 to 2800! The number of inmates in Work Based Education
training classes has risen, too, from around 2,250 to 2,400 this past year, and
thanks to our exceptional workforce readiness instructors, more of them are job
ready.
Our correctional educators' contributions are as meaningful as they are
measurable because being a teacher in the Arizona Department of Corrections is
not easy and presents its share of challenges. It is difficult getting high
school drop-outs back into the classroom and keeping them there. It is difficult
getting adults to acknowledge they have problems reading the shortest stories
and doing basic math problems. It is difficult getting many felons to admit
they've failed in more ways than one and to use their time confined wisely. Our
instructors meet each and every one of these challenges head-on and all of us
are the better for it! More inmates are being released to our communities after
their sentence is served, ready for the real world, ready to get a job and ready
to keep that job. More inmates are being released to our communities, ready to
take care of themselves and take care of their families without public
assistance. Correctional educators are helping us put the "corrections" back
into the Arizona Department of Corrections.
On behalf of everyone at ADC, thank you, Correctional Educators. We're proud
you're on our team!
Respectfully,
Dora Schriro
Director
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