Odyssey Beyond Bars Graduations
Across Wisconsin, Odyssey Beyond Bars (OBB) students marked academic milestones in large and small ways. At Waupun Correctional, one student held his certificate of completion over his head like a Super Bowl trophy. At Racine, a student choked up at a poignant moment in his five-minute personal story, the final project for his English composition course. In her commencement address at Taycheedah, a student expressed thanks for the community she’d formed with her classmates. And at Oakhill, students chatted with OBB supporters, basking in the glow of their completion ceremony and the end of their semester.
At the close of spring and fall semesters, Odyssey Beyond Bars staff travel the state to celebrate our students’ completion of a UW-Madison three-credit English Composition course, which prepares students for future college coursework in reading, writing, and oral communication. But, according to our students, it does far more than that.
A student at Waupun, where we just began offering English 100 this spring, spoke of how the course will help him “navigate life more confidently.” He talked of OBB’s “choice” to provide this class and desire “to see all of us succeed.” This choice, he felt, set up a domino effect in “giv[ing] us more possibilities and a drive to push for a positive change…saving some of us from returning to prison by creating opportunities for success.”
Many of our students continue their education both inside and outside of prison. Depending on the facility, students may be able to choose between a number of programs–from technical colleges to private colleges and UWs. Having programs like OBB helps students springboard to future educational success.