15 inmates celebrate graduation in Madison County
JACKSON, Tenn. — Inmates at a local jail celebrated a special accomplishment.
Madison County Sheriff Julian Wiser and the Madison County Jail announced the successful completion of a pilot program aimed at providing valuable skills and opportunities for inmates.
The sheriff office says they believe the two-week program will greatly enhance their prospects for employment upon release.
Organizers celebrated the graduation of 15 inmates who have worked diligently to earn their certificates through this transformative program.
“The class, actually, is outstanding. They teach you how to go into the workforce as far working with raw material, metal, measurements, reading caliber and gauges. For people with refreshers, fractions, how to reduce fractions to the lowest common denominator. Basically, it’s like going all over college and school all over again,” said Larry Horton, an inmate.
Horton says he aims to be back to work soon.
“About another month, and I’ll be back out there. You know, just finishing up something I done a few years ago when I got a little trouble when I was still obnoxious,” Horton said.
He says he is excited to put his skills of being a computer software technician back to use.
“You know, I have programmed robots and updated software. So it really taught me a shorter way of how to come up with certain things versus when I was taking the long way,” he said.
Horton also shared what made the class his favorite.
“My favorite thing was how the instructor took their time to explain things. In school, your teachers will tell you something once, maybe twice. They don’t really go over it. But they took their time and broke it down. And if you didn’t understand it, they re-broke it down. And if you didn’t understand it that way, they re-broke it down again until you got the full understanding on it,” he said.
Organizers of the event say the presence and support will undoubtedly contribute to the encouragement and motivation of these individuals as they take their next steps towards reintegrating into society.
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