Friends, Last night I taught my first class in prison. A friend of mine has been teaching classes in Western Penitentiary, located along the Ohio river in Pittsburgh, for some time and she talked me into giving a class in economics next fall. She wanted me to get acclimated so I agreed to do a class on the economy last night. It was a great experience. About 10 guys, all black but one, attended and the discussion was very lively. I could have cried thinking about how interested and engaged these people were compared to so many of my college students. The state has cancelled all money for these guys to get college credits and degrees, despite the fact that such programs seem to work really well in reducing recidivism. My friend was so upset by this that she organized an informal certificate program which is going well so far. I was a little nervous berfore the class, not so much about going into a prison but worried that I might be asked questions I could not answer. The students were challenging but very respectful. I'm sure I'll go back. One thing I did get nervous about was the drug "frisk". A guard runs this machine over you and then takes a sort of film out of the machine and puts it into another machine and this machine is supposed to be able to detect over a hundred different drugs. I do not use drugs (I quit so as not to be a bad influence on my sons, but this did not do much good as it turned out!), but I brought this really old brief case with me, and god knows what was once in it. Anyway I passed the test! Have people on the list taught in prisons? If so, I'd be interested to know about any materials you found useful. in solidarity, michael yates
