Meet the AmeriCorps Members!

THE OARS ORACLE The Official OARS Newsletter.

A M E R I C O R P S O A R S

Volume 1, Issue 1

March 2011

What is Americorps? 2

What is AmeriCorps?

What is OARS?

2

Just Fifteen Minutes

of Your Time/ OARS

Service Projects

3

Trip to the Rotunda/

Lights, Camera,

AmeriCorps!

4

Great Stories of

Service

5

The Importance of

Goal Setting

6

Financial

Sophistication

Word Search

7

8

Inside this issue:

Lesley Burnett (RCC) Financial Literacy, Breaking

Barriers

Richard Hansen (RCC) Financial Literacy, Breaking

Barriers

Donna Harati (PNM) GED Tutoring, Lifeskills

Workshops, Family Reunification

Laura Kanewske (SNMCF) Breaking Barriers, Financial Literacy, College Tutoring

Guy McNeal (PNM) GED Tutoring, Financial

Literacy, Lifeskills Workshops

Fatou Ndao (PNM) GED Tutoring,

Lifeskills Workshops

Seth Pedigo (CNMCF)

College Tutoring, Breaking Barriers

Mark Rosebrough (ABQ) Community Service Project

Coordination

Andrew Valdez (CNMCF) Breaking Barriers, GED

Tutoring

Abby Poulos (SNMCF) Breaking Barriers,

GED Tutoring

This is a first-year grant (2010-

2011) for Opportunities with

AmeriCorps for Reentry Success

( O A R S ) f u n d e d b y t h e

Corporation for National and

Community Service (CNCS).

NMCD’s partnership with CNCS

through OARS affords us 14

full-time volunteers each grant

year dedicated to providing reentry

services through the Education

Bureau.

OARS seeks to promote public

safety by addressing recidivism

through education and reentry

related services for offenders and

ex-offenders as well as provide

opportunities for AmeriCorps

volunteers to complete meaningful

community-based service as a way

of helping their country. In its first

year, OARS has placed its

volunteers at state-run

correctional facilities

throughout New Mexico

specifically, Las Cruces,

Los Lunas, Roswell, and

S a n t a F e . O A R S

volunteers work in the

education departments of

their facilities, acting as

tutors in Adult Basic

Education and college

classrooms, offering

cognitive programming

such as Breaking Barriers,

working one-on-one with

offenders on family reunification, teaching financial literacy

workshops, and facilitating life skills workshops. At a time when state

budget cuts threaten the integrity of correctional education programs,

OARS fills the gap by providing facilities with passionate and driven

volunteers who are eager to share their knowledge and skills with an

often overlooked and underserved population.

What Is OARS? By Abby Poulos

Page 2 THE OARS ORACLE The Official OARS Newsletter.

What is AmeriCorps? By Abby Poulos

AmeriCorps is like the PeaceCorps only the volunteers in this program complete their year of service in

America instead of in overseas communities. State and National AmeriCorps programs like the

Opportunities with AmeriCorps for Reentry Success (OARS) program at NMCD are federally funded by

the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) in Washington, D.C. There are

approximately 75,000 opportunities a year to volunteer with AmeriCorps to address critical needs in our

communities. Some of these critical needs are focused in many different areas of interest—from community

development, disaster relief, ex-offender reentry, education, elder care, environment, hunger, homeless,

public safety, etc.—but they all seek to eradicate poverty and improve the quality of life in communities.

In exchange for their full-time service each week, AmeriCorps volunteers receive a modest living stipend,

health and dental insurance, loan forbearance, loan forgiveness, and child care should they qualify. At the

successful completion of their service, a substantial education award is provided by CNCS. This education

award can be used to further one’s education, pay off students loans, and in some cases can be handed down

to dependents. More importantly, the experience gained during a year of AmeriCorps service can be

life-changing. It not only opens doors for future employment opportunities, it allows individuals to channel

their particular talents, interests, and passions to directly and constructively impact the communities they

serve.

O n e d a y , w e w e r e

visiting the pods at the

level VI facility of the

Penitentiary of New

Mexico, talking to inmates

who had shown interest in

GED classes and who

were ILP mandated. One

of the inmates asked if he could

talk to us. I went to his cell, and

he said: I received my GED a

while ago, but I am starting to

forget my math. Russell (a

teacher at PNM) gave me this

book so I can practice my math,

but I am having

difficulties solving

many of these math

problems, and I don’t

have any help. Would

you please help me? I

told him to give me the

book and that I would go home,

figure out how to solve the

problems and get back to him

the following day. I went home

with the book. It was very

simple math and it took me less

than 10 minutes to solve the

problems. The next day, Guy

and I taught him how to solve

the problems that he was having

trouble with. It took us 15

minutes and he was so

appreciative that he said: “This

is all we need; just 15 minutes of

your time can make a big differ-

ence, I’ve been looking for help

for a very long time. Thank you

very much and I hope that you

guys will stop by and help us

from time to time.”

able to assist an upstart

birthing clinic that

s e r v e s u n in s u r ed

women by helping

them with landscaping

needs necessary for the

opening of the clinic.

A m e r i C o r p s

volunteers also spent

time at St. Martins’

Shelter serving meals

and handing out cloth-

ing to the homeless in

Albuquerque. Members

were also happy to

work with Habitat for

Humanity of Santa Fe. The group spent the day siding a house that was

being built for a single mother and her family. Members were able to

lend a hand to a worthy cause while also learning construction skills

that would become helpful to them in the future. Community service is

clearly an ideal that each member believes strongly in.

AmeriCorps members are as

helpful in the community as

they are in the prisons. In less

than four months, members have

already participated in five

independent service projects.

These projects take place

outside each member’s normal

work duties. The first set of

projects came during the

mandatory OCT time in

December. As a group, we were

OARS Service Projects By Mark Rosebrough

Page 3

Just Fifteen Minutes of Your Time By Fatou Ndao

The rotunda and halls of the

statehouse were a hive of

activity as hundreds of

volunteers representing dozens

of AmeriCorps volunteer

organizations made their rounds

around and around the

Roundhouse during the 8th

A n n u a l S e r v i c e a n d

Volunteerism Day on January

26, 2010.

A private citizens, and through

meeting face-to-face with legis-

lators and pressing more than a

few hands, the OARS volunteers

demonstrated their political

savvy as they made the case that

not only is AmeriCorps (and, by

extension, the OARS program) a

vital piece of the community

service puzzle, but that

education in correctional

institutions is of paramount

importance in accomplishing the

stated goal of incarceration:

rehabilitation.

Aside from the official goal of

meeting and greeting legislators,

which was the primary purpose

of the day, it was simply a great

pleasure to connect with other

volunteers from programs all

throughout the state. The service

event at the Roundhouse was

indeed a much-needed respite

from the typical legislative

scene of political factions

fighting over the (admittedly)

pressing issues of budgets and

taxes. Seeing representatives of

the approximately 6,000

AmeriCorps volunteers who are

currently serving throughout

New Mexico was a heartening

sight that was a powerful visual

reminder of the spirit of civic

responsibility which is at the

foundation of the AmeriCorps

state. I am also looking into what

other state’s programs offer. The

documentary will cover all the

programs that are offered inside

a New Mexico prison. It will

also consist of

interviews asking

inmates as well as

facility and central

office staff what

they think about

e a c h

program. This is a

documentary that is

strictly going to

have a spotlight on all the posi-

As part of OARS goals for this

year’s grant, I am heading up a

team effort of producing a

documentary about education

and AmeriCorps programs in

N e w M e x i c o

prisons. At the

present time, the

documentary is in

the planning stages

and awaiting proper

NMCD approval. I

am gathering more

information about

different programs

in the prison system all over the

tives in the prison system. I feel

this documentary will not only

be beneficial to the inmates and

staff, but for the whole New

Mexico Department of Correc-

tions. Television shows such as

“Locked Up,” “Hard Time,”

“Doing Time” etc. highlight the

negative aspects of the prison

system. This documentary will

show that there are actual

programs inside the prison that

are beneficial to inmates and so-

ciety in general.

Trip to the Rotunda By Richard Hansen

Lights, Camera, AmeriCorps! By Seth Pedigo

Page 4 THE OARS ORACLE The Official OARS Newsletter.

“Tutoring Breakthrough”—Seth

Pedigo

I observed one inmate we trained

as a peer tutor actually tutor an-

other inmate. I was amazed at

how intelligent this inmate was

in the field of math. He made the

learning experience easier and

interesting for the other inmate.

The communication between

them is what I believe prisons

need more of.

I also facilitated inmates learn-

ing about the slope formula rise

over the run and understand how

to find perimeter with the equa-

tion P=2L+2W. The experience

facilitating these inmates with

their math was one the best ex-

periences in my life. It was in-

credible to see how much will-

power some of them have to

learn. I had 3 inmates that came

into the class and did not even

understand the concept of adding

and subtracting negative num-

bers and they did not understand

the concept that a negative times

a negative is always positive. As

a group they went from strug-

gling with adding, subtracting,

multiplying and dividing nega-

tive numbers all the way to un-

derstanding the math concept of

finding the slope and the perime-

ter. It's just amazing how much

progress can be made in just one

teaching session and how much

inmates do want to learn and

make a better life for them-

selves.

“The Power of a Simple

Apology”—Andrew Valdez

I started my second Breaking

Barriers class and I have 7 in-

mates who are participating. The

highlight of the week has to do,

oddly enough, with watching

two of my inmates argue with

each other. But then I helped

them make apologies to one an-

other without saying “my bad”

or anything like that but really

saying “I’m sorry”.

I think that the highlight of the

week can also be part of a good

story because both of the in-

mates, after we talked about it,

advised me that they have never

sat there and apologized like that

in a situation like that. I ex-

plained to them that it’s impor-

tant to be accountable for their

actions and those apologies are a

good way to show it and solve

the problem at hand. It got more

in depth with barriers and such.

It was a great discussion and

everybody in the class got in-

volved.

Some of the most simple acts

that non-incarcerated people take

for granted, like apologizing are

big deals in a prison and for this

population. It seems that all it

takes is a little guidance to make

a huge difference in inmates'

lives. Imagine if the U.S. put

more of our resources into to

educating our youth in these

ways as well as helping those

who have strayed from the path!

What a different world we could

someday live in!

“Special Education”—Donna

Harati

One of my students jumped 3

levels on the TABE test in both

math and reading in just one

year!!! When I first started to

work with him he kept asking

me if he should be in Special

Education because he was al-

ways put in Special Education in

school on the outside. I told him

he’s not “special ed” and that I

could tell he was motivated and

that’s what he needs to get a

GED. He also told me that he

took GED classes when he was

outside but he would always fall

behind and was unable to catch

up due to the size of the classes.

His work ethic and diligence are

really astounding. He won’t rest

until he completely understands

a concept. After getting an inva-

lid low score on the D level math

last year, he scored an incredibly

high 552 on the D level math last

week!!!

Page 5

Great Stories of Service

At the Level I and II facilities at

CNMCF I partake in what is

termed College Counseling. Our

mission consists of helping

inmates determine their college

major, the college or vocational

school they want to attend, the

process of enrolling at a

secondary school, and the

procedures to apply for Federal

Financial Aid. The

first step is

determining their

skills and interests

as linked to a

career. The next

step is finding the

r ight school .

Sometimes, this is

a difficult task for

a n o f f e n d e r

because some

inmates need to

release into an area where they

will not be tempted to return to

“the lifestyle” and won’t be

surrounded by their old gang-

related, or substance abuse-

related friends or family where

they may be more prone|

recidivating. After the inmate

picks a school he looks at the col-

l e g e c a t a l o g a n d h e

d e t e r m i n es h i s p r e f e r r ed

program of study. Then the

inmate can look at what classes he

may have to take to earn a degree

in his newly chosen field. The real

work begins at this

point because the

inmate’s teacher and

myself work together

to help the inmate

figure out his weak

points (for example

math and reading).

Refresher tutoring and

education is provided

v i a o n e - o n - o n e

sessions and computer

software such as

PLATO. Many inmates enter

prison having failed in the

regular high school classroom.

The goal setting and GED

practice we provide targeted

toward the areas they are most in

need of help aids in reducing the

fear and anxiety some inmates

experience when studying for

their GED. Once the time is

right, we provide guidance for

each inmate in properly filling

out a FAFSA. As of today,

inmates have been able to apply

for over $250,000 worth of Pell

grants and student loans to aid in

their pursuit of higher education.

This programming really does

make you feel like you are

aiding inmates in helping

themselves change their lives.

We are preparing them for a

successful reentry back into our

communities.

The Importance of Goal Setting By Seth Pedigo

Seth Pedigo assists a student at Los Lunas.

“As of today, inmates have been

able to apply for over $250,000

worth of Pell grants and student

loans to aid in their pursuit of

higher education.”

Page 6 THE OARS ORACLE The Official OARS Newsletter.

Page 7

in their ability to achieve their

personal and financial goals.

With over 100 enrollees in the

first offering of the class the pro-

gram is already off to a fast start.

The true measure of success will

of course be how

many of the students

use the knowledge gained to

further empower their lives.

purchases on credit

and the cost to the

individual, in time

and money, of re-

paying that credit.

The goal of the

class is to give the

students facts about how

personal finances can affect

many other aspects of their lives

(from relationships to the chance

they return to prison) as well as

show the ways the greater

e c o n o m y an d f i n an c i a l

institutions affect them on a

daily basis and the actions they

can personally take to gain

greater control of their own

finances and lives. Graduates of

the class should be prepared to

reenter society with greater

knowledge and self-confidence

Financial Sophistication By Guy McNeal Knowledge and empowerment

are the two major themes of the

Financial Literacy class being

facilitated in NMCD prisons

throughout the state by

AmeriCorps members. The class

is several weeks long and

contains topics ranging from

proper household budgeting to

credit and debt to the overall

economy’s effect on the

individual.

Each individual class focuses on

giving the students the

|information they need in order

to make smart financial and life

decisions when they are released

from prison. A recent class at the

Penitentiary of New Mexico

focused on the unusual

depreciation rates of cars as well

as the realities of making large

“Each individual class focuses on

giving the students the

information they need in order to

make smart financial and life

decisions when they are released

from prison. “

OARS Word Search

By Lesley Burnett

Find the words in the word bank. The remaining letters will tell you the

AmeriCorps motto:

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___

Word Bank

AmeriCorps OARS Service

Reentry Learn Teach

New Mexico Central PNM

Roswell Southern Las Cruces

L L E W S O R Y G E N

E T C T I N E R G T R

A H E I H C N T G S E

R D N O I C P N M S H

N N T V E F A E O R T

S P R O C I R E M A U

R E A A M E R R T O O

S I L A S C R U C E S

O C I X E M W E N C A