Meaningful Sentences?

Roberta chats with Jeffrey Abramowitz, a former trial lawyer in Philadelphia who made some poor choices and found himself incarcerated in a federal prison in the US. Roberta and Jeffrey discuss the unique serving of his sentence in prison, the education system there, the challenges he experienced when he was released, andhis metamorphosis into a champion of corrections education and re-entry across America.

Roberta Power talks to the Chief of Education Maurice Daigle and teacher Kelsey Henderson from the Correctional Service of Canada in the Atlantic region to explore what's happening educationally with residents at medium and maximum institutions there. Together they chat about their roles and their strengths and weaknesses as instructors while they consider various learning styles, digital literacy needs, mental health, preparation for re-entry, and students serving long term sentences. Finally, Roberta takes up an article from News for You about prison gardens and how helpful they can be to reducing recidivism and giving a sense of purpose.

Roberta chats with social program officer Cecilia Rossander about the programming offered at William Head Federal Institution, such as William Head On Stage (WHOs). Together they discuss how being involved in theatre and other community-based programs can bring self-worth and confidence to the residents at correctional institutes, preparing them for their lives, their work, their communication and their callings. This is validated in interviews with two residents from William Head who participated in a radio play over the pandemic.

Roberta also requests more written and audio submissions from the residents with respect to their Acts of Kindness stories.

Roberta talks to Trent Gillespie, a teacher in the maximum security unit at Saskatchewan Penitentiary. Together, they discuss his background and experience in corrections, seeking engaging resources for all students, incorporating indigenous perspectives, acts of kindness, and the challenges and needs of learners and teachers in a prison or correctional institution. Roberta gives a unique writing assignment for students to submit to a weekly world newspaper News for You to be read aloud on a future podcast.