Author Archives: mjwayblog

“ A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way “ Mark Twain I figured out rather quickly that for every action I completed towards implementing the Horticulture class at the prison I could expect an equal and opposite reaction from my detractors. It is theContinue reading “The First Plan Revisited”

Developing a workable horticulture plan for the prison school was much easier than implementing it. I started by hiring Horticulture tutors who had a background in the discipline. I also had to include all the workers who were hired by one of the Deputy Wardens, and they proved to be a real pain. They thoughtContinue reading “The First Plan”

.When I returned to our prison school the principal was waiting for me. He had already spoken with the principal whose facility I had visited. I was tired from the ride back and we agreed to talk about my trip in the morning. He asked what I thought about prison horticulture and I informed himContinue reading “The Plan”

While walking out of seven block back through the administration building my colleague began talking about the prison farms and how the prison was very much self sufficient at one time. The farms produced beef, dairy, chickens, eggs, and pigs. They fed the inmates and prison staff with which could only be described in currentContinue reading “The Visit Part 3”

As we began walking back to the school the principal started to explain what was currently happening at this prison. In 1988 the prison was ordered to downsize by the Federal Government. Being the “largest walled prison at that time,” it was not an easy task. The main prison was divided into 4 separate prisons.Continue reading “The Visit Part 2”

It was a long drive, but by leaving early in the morning I beat the traffic. I just hoped the ride home would be as quick Pulling up in the old prison main parking lot looking at the front doors of what could have been a castle was the original prison built in 1839. BetweenContinue reading “The Visit Part I”

Our meeting with the Warden was interesting. He knew more about me than my boss did. He informed me that I was known by the Regional Administrator(his boss) when I worked as an Executive with the medical center. She had conducted the Public Health inspections at the medical center and I was the government liaisonContinue reading “…and then there was Horticulture”

After processing the violence in the library and the FBI sting our Prison School Principal held a staff meeting. I informed him that I was concerned about my safety. It wasn’t even three months since I started and the school had been closed at least a dozen times due to violence. The FBI sting hadContinue reading “The Fall Part 2”

After about a month of teaching at the prison I had an experience that not even the Corrections Academy had prepared me for. It seemed that the correctional facility I had accepted employment with was under investigation at the Federal level. No one, except the current administration and their minions, new this was occurring. WhatContinue reading “The fall”

I was hired in the fall of 1994 as a vocational instructor for the Department of Corrections in a newly constructed state run facility in a large metropolitan area. My new Principal informed me I was selected out of 250 candidates and he believed I would have an exceptional career teaching in the prison school.Continue reading “A New Experience”