The ECHO, Volume 92, Number 11, December 2020 - January 2021 Page: 6
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The ECHO
6
December 2020 / January 2021
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Hi
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Hi HI
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Stewart says she actually
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★ CAREERS IN LOGISTICS*
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fundamentals of construction— but
also in everyday life.
s
f A
skills that are most in demand
by employers are knowledge of
Microsoft Excel, logistics and
supervisionshe says. “When I
showed my employer that 1 had
earned all of these certificates
and that 1 have experience with
Business Computer Information
Systems (BCIS) and logistics
training, it opened up a lot of
opportunities for me.”
While Stewart is grateful for
her current job, she has future
goals for employing her skills
as a logistician —she plans
to open her own restaurant.
Until that time, she continues
to stay busy working a full
time job and attending classes
online. She encourages current
residents to use education and
positive attitude to improve
their life situations.
“Stay positive. Just because
you are locked up, don’t let
anybody make you feel like you
can’t learn,” she says. “When
you step into any class, put that
prison mentality behind you,
and if there are concepts that
you don’t understand, don’t be
too proud to ask for help. Go
in there with the intention of
learning and take advantage of
every opportunity presented
to you.” ★
he ECHO expresses sincere
I sympathy to the family, friends
I coworkers and students of cor-
rectional educator Clemente "Cle rr'
Rocha. This highly esteemed teacher
served with Windham School District
(WSD) for 25 years, teaching Career
and Technical Education classes at the
Dominguez State Jail in San Antonio.
Many hearts broke when he passed
away in November following his fight
with COVID-19. He was known for h s
*77-e ECHO also expresses condolences tc those friends and family of
TDCJ residents end employees who have been lost during their strug-
gles with COWD- '9. We are saddened by the loss of so many family
members, menus and associates during this difficult time. We contin-
ue to keep them. in our thoughts, and we keep their loved ones in our
prayers for comfort and strength in the days ahead.
J
As a young adult, Riley set out
on his own and threw himself into
the construction industry, building
a lifelong career and becoming a
respected professional in the field.
He also learned the construction
industry is a highly volatile work
world, known to pass from one
extreme to me next.
“The construction industry is filled
with ups-and-downs, and it can be
either feast cr famine,’ Riley says.
k was one such “construction
famine” in the early 1990s that led
Riley to consider alternate career
options—and the opportunity of
becoming an educator in a prison
seating surfaced.
“My father-in-law had a friend who
was the principal on the Roach Unit
years ago. and a teaching position was
available. The topic of employment
at Windham was casually brought
up. so out of respect for my father-
in-law, I went to the interview,” Riley
says. “I was net entirely sold on the
idea at first—but after a series of
interviews. I accepted [a teaching
position]. I was given an opportunity
io have a salaried job with excellent
benefits, and also a chance to teach
something I was good at.”
Riley's relationship with Windham
began at the Clements Unit in 1992,
w’nere he forged a teaching career
based on a dynamic combination
of competency-based curriculum,
exposure to technical math, trade-
rdated science, safety training and
"And I’ve only one th«ng to say about all these
complaints I’ve L >en hearing...Venison!"
opportunity- presented to her.
She says the hours spent in the
classroom became her favorite
opportunities for the foreseeable
future. This review of the
marketplace is relevant to Lee computer skills. <
College offerings being provided Microsoft Excel, was the part
of the class Stewart says she
and academic core curriculum
with student needs throughout
the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Confronted by extended periods of
quarantine, Windham educators
and TDCJ administrators reached
for new techniques. By innovating
and adapting to transformative
ways of teaching and empowering
students through distance learning,
educators were still able to anchor
the minds of students to reaching
education goals.
“When unable to hold regular
classes, Windham instructors are
sending out remote packages to
students, which include course mate-
rial, OSHA reviews and example
projects,” he says. They are also com-
bining these efforts with in-person
classes and protective health prac-
tices throughout the school year. One
lesson of the pandemic has been that
innovation in teaching excellence is
not stopping: it’s constantly adapting
and improving.
Riley says a teacher’s ability to
inspire shouldnotbe underestimated,
and he urges Windham educators to
keep students apprised of the ever-
changing demands of the world.
“Windham teachers: keep making
a difference,” he says. “Every time
you go into a classroom, you have the
potential to change someone’s life
for the better, so don’t ever discount
that,” he says. “Dig in and try to find
ways to reach out to students in a
positive way.” ★
> STEWART
continued from pg. I
While thedefinition oflogistics
is simple, the job descriptions
are not. Experts consider the
field one of the fastest growing
and most in-demand in the
United States today due to the
ever-increasing globalization of
the marketplace.
In 2015, the U.S. Department
of Transportation reported
that 18.1 billion tons of goods
valuing about S19.2 trillion
were moved over the nation’s
transport infrastructure
including highways, railways,
airways and waterways.
By the year 2045, those numbers
are expected to balloon to
27 billion tons— worth an
estimated $38 trillion. In order
to handle increased demand,
experts expect the marketplace
to add 270,000 positions
annually, making this field an
excellent source of employment on|y as relates to the class,
but also to life in general.
Learning and honing her
computer skills, especially
|j
for eligible residents of TDCJ. of the class Stewart says‘she
“What we attempt to do [in enjoyed the most. She says this
TDCJ] is to provide vocational software mastery- turned out to
be the most beneficial to her in
the job market.
“In today’s job market, the
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signed up for the logistics course ZmZenilvandfarZ m TDGI shouM submh a
out of a sense of boredom more the fllture. T|ie ^ureaTof college/vocational Zterert
than anything else. However. Labor predicts that the field form to the TDCJ/RPD. ★
once she joined the class, she „ uS Z exceed tl e Source:
quickly recognized the real ' T 5 Bureau of Labor static, U.S.
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exceptional teaching style, unfailing ded cation, and genuinely kind
and positive attitude.
in 2009, Mr Rocha was nonored by WSD as its Teacher of the Yeac
He was the Lane Murray Excellence inTeaching recipient, represent-
ing what was best in correctional educators. "My passion is to make
lhe impcssib e, possible." He said. "I love the fire inside me that im-
pels me to solve problems and create so utions.
"My choice to work in the correctional setting is simple: educa-
tion is the last best hope these men and women have to success-
fully 'eturn to society. Working in the correctional setting, I can be
part of the solution."
Rocha said society sometimes puts negative labels on incarcerat-
ed individuals, b.t he fell he could help his students overcome the
obstacles they face after lelease from prison.
"We know that these labels can and will destroy a person’s life.
By choosing to work in the correctional setting, I can remove these
1 labels ard help students build a new future—one that is positive
' and successful," he said.
Jl want my students to feel the empowerment that goes along
with hard work and dedication. I want them to go forward and share
with Meir loved ones the possibilities of success in education — and
j in I fe—and break the cycle of life in prison. I know that if lean reaci
out =nd help one, that one will reach out and help many. I believe
one person can make a difference.
'I want to bethat person!"
time of the day as she and her
classmates mentally left the
prison environment behind and
focused on their new challenges.
“From 11:45 a.m. to 6:oo
p.m.—those were the hours
that I wasn’t [feeling like] an
inmate,” Stewart says. “Those
were the hours that I was
working on the computer, and
I was in a college classroom
with an instructor teaching me
things that would benefit me.”
Along with a new
horticulture program,
logistics is the first Lee College
offering for the unit’s female
residents. Many of the online
computer skills needed in
logisitics are restricted by
security precautions, so
students are able to learn on a
secure intranet system. They
are instructed by Lee College’s
J. Grevenberg. Stewart said
this instructor helps the class
develop a can-do attitude — not
plenty of hands-cn experience. He the changes come over the students,
says interperscnal skills are also an I take great pride when 1 see the light
essential element of CTE instruction, bulb turn on, and they smile and
grounding students in not only the begin to talk enthusiastically about
their projects,” he says. “That makes
it all worth it, and that is what really
“At Windham, we do not just teach motivates me: to see the dramatic
drivingnails and cuttingboards. There changes in these men.”
Engaging students in practical
steps to better
challenges
b
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are life skills involved here as well,
such as problem-solving, teamwork, steps to better understand
communicating meaningfully with employment challenges is an
others, and [developing] ethics and integral part of the education
morals,” Riley says. journey. Teachers strive to provide
Riley has taught CTE construction quality instruction, distinguished
fundamentals at the Neal Unit since certifications and the development
1998, and to this day, he continues of career networks so students can
to provide relevant training and the become employable future citizens,
development of essential skills that Riley also does his utmost to raise
give students more opportunities students’ self-confidence, bringing
for success and 3 lower likelihood diligence, renewed focus and the
of recidivism. sharing of wisdom gleaned from his
“I didn’t realize the profound nearly 30 years of experience in the
importance of correctional teaching construction field.
until a few years into it, when I started “1 tell all of my students this:
noting the impac’_ was making in the come into the classroom and get
students’ lives,” he says. something out of it. Apply yourself;
There are many challenges in don’t just come in here expecting
correctionaleducation, and according to frame a house or operate a
to Riley, they can occur every day. ShopBot,” he says. “Students can
“Challenges arrive on a daily basis, get their lives on track for the first
For example, it may take a little while time, and the construction industry
for students to let their guard down will hire them simply because they
and loosen up. Some of them enter are skilled, focused and reliable,
the class very reluctant to work with Life is full of second chances, and
the tools, looking at everything with employers are willing to look at
disdain,” he says. what a person can do —not just at
Nevertheless, Riley is determined what a person has done.”
to get students involved with the However, another challenge has
curriculum and to help them emerged for educators in 2020,
transform obstacles into assets. Riley says, and that is being able
“The best part of my job is seeing to align life skills, CTE training
> RILEY continued from j. 1
courses that make our residents
market-ready upon release,”
says Dr. Michael Rutledge,
deputy director of TDCJ’s
Rehabilitation Programs
Division (RPD). “We attempt
to look at the
marketplace five or 10 years
in the future so that we can
provide vocational courses
and certifications for students
so they are marketable and
employable upon release.”Lee
College administrators saw
logistics as a good fit for job
training for residents in a state T
jail setting.
Due to the participants rT . . . *
only staying at the Plane State I he field of logistics in an of work sites, it is important
Jail facility for two years or
less, there isn’t enough time
for them to earn an Associate
of Applied Science degree,”
explains Donna Zuniga, dean
of Lee (
Center, and a strong supporter
of the new logistics program
at the Plane State Jail. “The
certificates of completion that
the course participants earn are
the Logistics and Supply Chain logistics an exciting career Jobs f<
Management and Logistics and u... r......
Operations Management. We
are hoping to be able to offer
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Texas. Department of Criminal Justice. The ECHO, Volume 92, Number 11, December 2020 - January 2021, newspaper, 2020-12/2021-01; Huntsville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1364359/m1/6/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.