Post by title1parent on Jul 3, 2010 5:45:14 GMT -5
www.suntimes.com/news/education/2460304,CST-NWS-grads03.article
Small steps: 6 nonviolent offenders graduate at jail
VIRTUAL HIGH SCHOOL 'It feels good'
July 3, 2010
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter sesposito@suntimes.com
Amid the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance," you could hear the intermittent bleep of the metal detectors and the occasional bark of a sheriff's deputy. And if you looked out the window to the right of the "Class of 2010" banner, it was hard to miss the coils of razor wire gleaming in the sunlight.
This week's high school graduation in a room off the lobby of the Cook County Criminal Courthouse at 26th and California was unusual in a number of ways, including the fact that most of the graduates of the Cook County Jail's "Virtual High School" program aren't fresh-faced kids stepping out into the world for the first time. Many have lengthy criminal histories.
"It feels good -- I've got my diploma and can't nobody take it away from me," said Ira Hines, 21, a two-time felon whose baggage includes a father doing time for murder.
Hines was one of six people to get their diplomas in a new online program aimed at nonviolent criminal defendants. It's a collaboration between Chicago Public Schools, the Cook County court system and the sheriff's office. The program provides opportunities for defendants who, in many cases, are too old or too far behind their classmates to finish classes at a traditional high school.
So what's the incentive for students with a bad attitude to stay enrolled? Organizers say it's the intensive mentoring that students get while they're sitting together in a room, working on their online classes.
"These are smart kids," said Rebecca Janowitz, who helped develop the program for the sheriff's office. "They're not stoned. Not being high is very helpful in completing work."
And unlike getting a generic GED, students receive a diploma from the high school they last attended.
There are currently 50 students enrolled in the program, which began in February 2009. But with some 8,000 people ages 17 to 21 leaving Cook County Jail each year without a diploma, can the program really make a difference?
"These programs are small, they are a beginning -- we've gone from zero to something," Janowitz said.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart was on hand at this week's graduation, asking the suddenly self-conscious graduates in their black caps and gowns to look far into the future -- to the day when they're old and near death.
"What do you want to think about your life at that moment? Do you want to think about a series of wasted opportunities?" Dart said. ". . . We want you to go back to the community and be the beacon that everybody looks at and says, 'Wow! Look what he's done with his life.' "
Now that Julisa Rockiett, 18, has her diploma, she's thinking about becoming a lawyer. Just last October, she was arrested for stealing money from the bank where she worked. She says she stole because she needed cash to support her family. She received 18 months probation for her crime.
"I missed the perks -- not being able to go to my high school, not being able to go to prom, but the important thing was making sure I graduated from high school," said Rockiett, who lives in the the Roseland neighborhood.
Rockiett says a three-week stay in the jail was enough to persuade her to stay out of jail and finish high school.
"It will suit me fine if I never have to see California Street again," she said.
Small steps: 6 nonviolent offenders graduate at jail
VIRTUAL HIGH SCHOOL 'It feels good'
July 3, 2010
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter sesposito@suntimes.com
Amid the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance," you could hear the intermittent bleep of the metal detectors and the occasional bark of a sheriff's deputy. And if you looked out the window to the right of the "Class of 2010" banner, it was hard to miss the coils of razor wire gleaming in the sunlight.
This week's high school graduation in a room off the lobby of the Cook County Criminal Courthouse at 26th and California was unusual in a number of ways, including the fact that most of the graduates of the Cook County Jail's "Virtual High School" program aren't fresh-faced kids stepping out into the world for the first time. Many have lengthy criminal histories.
"It feels good -- I've got my diploma and can't nobody take it away from me," said Ira Hines, 21, a two-time felon whose baggage includes a father doing time for murder.
Hines was one of six people to get their diplomas in a new online program aimed at nonviolent criminal defendants. It's a collaboration between Chicago Public Schools, the Cook County court system and the sheriff's office. The program provides opportunities for defendants who, in many cases, are too old or too far behind their classmates to finish classes at a traditional high school.
So what's the incentive for students with a bad attitude to stay enrolled? Organizers say it's the intensive mentoring that students get while they're sitting together in a room, working on their online classes.
"These are smart kids," said Rebecca Janowitz, who helped develop the program for the sheriff's office. "They're not stoned. Not being high is very helpful in completing work."
And unlike getting a generic GED, students receive a diploma from the high school they last attended.
There are currently 50 students enrolled in the program, which began in February 2009. But with some 8,000 people ages 17 to 21 leaving Cook County Jail each year without a diploma, can the program really make a difference?
"These programs are small, they are a beginning -- we've gone from zero to something," Janowitz said.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart was on hand at this week's graduation, asking the suddenly self-conscious graduates in their black caps and gowns to look far into the future -- to the day when they're old and near death.
"What do you want to think about your life at that moment? Do you want to think about a series of wasted opportunities?" Dart said. ". . . We want you to go back to the community and be the beacon that everybody looks at and says, 'Wow! Look what he's done with his life.' "
Now that Julisa Rockiett, 18, has her diploma, she's thinking about becoming a lawyer. Just last October, she was arrested for stealing money from the bank where she worked. She says she stole because she needed cash to support her family. She received 18 months probation for her crime.
"I missed the perks -- not being able to go to my high school, not being able to go to prom, but the important thing was making sure I graduated from high school," said Rockiett, who lives in the the Roseland neighborhood.
Rockiett says a three-week stay in the jail was enough to persuade her to stay out of jail and finish high school.
"It will suit me fine if I never have to see California Street again," she said.