Prison Narratives Project Share/Gallery Walk, Dec. 9
Source/Author: Natalie Updike, Upper School English Teacher
December 06, 2022
Students in Ms. Updike's twelfth grade, honors English class: Prison Narratives,
have been working all semester to create individualized, student-directed projects with
an accompanying paper that speak to a problem and an actionable solution within the prison system based on various prison narratives.
Chargers are invited to a Gallery Walk where students will present their projects, such as spoken word poems, paintings, letters to legislators, petitions, etc. in the hopes of eliciting change and educating fellow community members regarding their topics of interest. Projects will be shared on Friday, December 9, 9:55-10:55am and 2:30-3:30pm in the Ohana Community Room on the 2nd floor of Charger Commons [map]. All faculty, staff, students and parents are encouraged to swing by and learn more about this often invisible system as well as celebrate these student accomplishments! Faculty may also bring their classes by if they teach during Upper School D or G block.
The students in the Prison Narratives class recently posed questions to two guest speakers who have worked intimately with the often invisible system of U.S. prisons. On Wednesday, November 30, virtual speakers Lydia Welker and Dr. Joseph Scotti spoke about their experiences and fielded student questions regarding the nature of hope, abolition, education, among other topics. Some sample student questions included:
have been working all semester to create individualized, student-directed projects with
an accompanying paper that speak to a problem and an actionable solution within the prison system based on various prison narratives.
Chargers are invited to a Gallery Walk where students will present their projects, such as spoken word poems, paintings, letters to legislators, petitions, etc. in the hopes of eliciting change and educating fellow community members regarding their topics of interest. Projects will be shared on Friday, December 9, 9:55-10:55am and 2:30-3:30pm in the Ohana Community Room on the 2nd floor of Charger Commons [map]. All faculty, staff, students and parents are encouraged to swing by and learn more about this often invisible system as well as celebrate these student accomplishments! Faculty may also bring their classes by if they teach during Upper School D or G block.
The students in the Prison Narratives class recently posed questions to two guest speakers who have worked intimately with the often invisible system of U.S. prisons. On Wednesday, November 30, virtual speakers Lydia Welker and Dr. Joseph Scotti spoke about their experiences and fielded student questions regarding the nature of hope, abolition, education, among other topics. Some sample student questions included:
- What do you believe is the number one problem that needs to be addressed in the current U.S. prison system, and how do you propose that we begin to solve it?
- Have there been ways that an incarcerated person may have shown gratitude after receiving a book from your organization?
- Do you believe that unresolved mental health conditions or childhood trauma contribute to the main reasons why people end up in prison?
- Has there ever been a time where you have seen people you have worked with be able to start up their lives again after their release?
Lydia Welker, M.A., is a freelance technical writer and editor who volunteers as the Digital Communications Coordinator for the Appalachian Prison Book Project (https://appalachianprisonbookproject.org/author/lydiamaewelker/ ). APBP is a non-profit that "sends free books to people imprisoned in six Appalachian states (West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Maryland), hosts book clubs inside prisons in our region, and is leading an effort to bring for-credit college courses into prison" (https://appalachianprisonbookproject.org/ ). Lydia also serves on the Fundraising and Development Committee and the Media and PR Committee for APBP. Her main involvement with APBP is representing the organization and navigating access to books through education and building community engagement with allies inside and outside of prison environments.
Dr. Joseph R. Scotti, PhD, BCBA-D is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. He is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst - Doctoral. He was the lead psychologist for a large state prison for three years. While there, he helped run an Inside-Out Prison Exchange course with 15 undergraduate students who came into the prison and took the course side-by-side with 15 men who were incarcerated there. A main focus of the course was everyone reading and discussing Bryan Stevenson's "Just Mercy." He sits on the board of the Appalachian Prison Book Project and also spoke at the American Library Association conference in Washington, D.C. for their panel on revising the guidelines for prison libraries.
Dr. Joseph R. Scotti, PhD, BCBA-D is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. He is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst - Doctoral. He was the lead psychologist for a large state prison for three years. While there, he helped run an Inside-Out Prison Exchange course with 15 undergraduate students who came into the prison and took the course side-by-side with 15 men who were incarcerated there. A main focus of the course was everyone reading and discussing Bryan Stevenson's "Just Mercy." He sits on the board of the Appalachian Prison Book Project and also spoke at the American Library Association conference in Washington, D.C. for their panel on revising the guidelines for prison libraries.
