overcoming adversity and achieving dreams through higher education
Odyssey Junior celebrates beautiful moments “I can’t wait for Wednesdays when I get to attend Mommy’s school,” says one of our Odyssey Junior kids. While the adults attend class, their children — ranging from newborns to teens — fill our Odyssey space with the sound of laughter and learning. They receive new books, meet authors, …
What better time to celebrate Odyssey’s resilient women students than March, known as International Women’s History Month and a time to honor trailblazers? Our own alumnae exemplify the spirit of resilience and determination that this month commemorates. You’ve read about Sahira, who persevered past barriers to pursue dreams of becoming a teacher. Below, meet Mai …
OBB’s first course for incarcerated women welcomed 12 students at Taycheedah Correctional Institution as new Badgers. The students, who ranged in age from 25 to 55, quickly identified something they all had in common: a passion for lifelong learning. Many shared they had spent years on waitlists for educational programming before being accepted to OBB. …
An Interview with Odyssey supporter Dr. Keith Meyer Why have you chosen to donate so much money to the Odyssey Project? I have watched this wonderful program grow and flourish over the 22 years since Emily (my wife) got it organized and functioning. I have seen firsthand how this program blossomed and really has …
“Why vote?” asked Odyssey alum Blanca Laine, calling on fellow indigenous people to exercise a freedom denied their ancestors. In an effort to encourage increased voter participation and the understanding of voting, the Odyssey Project invited students, alumni, and the Madison community to come register to vote, get information about where and how to vote, …
“The eldest daughter of two refugees from South Sudan who escaped from war, I am a first-generation American who is proud of where I came from,” notes Odyssey Junior graduate Zawadi. Thanks to the generosity of Shannon Huberty and Max Lenz, Zawadi became the first recipient of the Huberty-Lenz scholarship designed to help an Odyssey …
See our photo gallery below celebrating Duke and a team of guest therapy dogs who listen patiently and non-judgmentally to Odyssey Junior children reading. Thanks to Go Team Therapy Dogs for frequent visits to our Odyssey Junior classrooms!
As this summer ends, Sanford Jones congratulates a granddaughter just offered one of the 30 coveted spots in the new Odyssey Class of 2025 set to begin in September. Sanford has a participation record that will be hard to beat, with a son, brother, niece, and sister graduating from Odyssey, a wife attending Odyssey Senior, …
“Our creative minds burst like piñatas when tapped into, for without creativity there would be no color in our bleak environment,” writes one Odyssey Beyond Bars student. “I write to find myself,” adds another, “and to speak for the ones who are mute and without a voice.” Amplifying student voices in transformational ways is at …
“Teaching in prison has been the most democratizing experience of my life,” says award-winning journalist and Odyssey cofounder Jean Feraca. She adds, “It cuts me down to size while it equalizes and exalts me. It is humbling to observe how much raw talent, human potential, and untapped humanity lie fallow in our grotesquely punitive prison …