Author Archives: mjwayblog

.He ruled the prison in the darkness. I believed him to be heaven sent. I knew he was hunting here in our gardens by his regurgitated fur balls of bones, teeth, claws, and feathers. I found them on the ground next to the housing units. We had a rodent problem which was kept in checkContinue reading “The Great Horned Owl”

. I was in my fifth year of teaching when our school secretary was removed from our prison school for what I would learn later was an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner. I had learned that staff having inappropriate relationships with prisoners occurs during my training, and it was considered a serious department infraction. MyContinue reading “The Unexpected”

. My first education conference where I would get to meet and talk with teachers from Michigan’s 42 prison schools was incredible. It was held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, not far from the University of Michigan campus. I enjoyed being in Ann Arbor. As an executive with the Detroit Medical Center, we had listened toContinue reading “The Conference”

. My boss Jesse, a real motivator of men, had enough of one of our academic teachers who always seemed to have a reason on why he couldn’t do what our Principal requested. This time it was the teacher not giving the Test of Adult Basic Education to those inmates needing a GED. I foundContinue reading “.Un Connard Paresseux.”

I would remember him for his honesty. I would remember him for his strength, but most of all, I would remember him for his one saying that I can not forget to this day. In the face of calamity, uncertainty, and fear which could occur daily in this prison setting he would say, “we willContinue reading “Vanished”

They made a bad decision. One could argue they kept making bad decisions and that’s why they are imprisoned behind three barb wire fences. Today would be a culmination of a continued convoluted logic. These level four prisoners decided they were not going back inside their housing unit. Instead, they would disrupt how the prisonContinue reading “Snowbirds”

The Acting Deputy Warden would leave his legacy on this prison. He was a man of action. He had brought order to a prison in the city where ten inmates had escaped with help from the immediate community. The changes in security he made there insured the prison would not be in the news again.Continue reading “Acting Deputy Warden”

Mr. Dandy was in trouble. He had the highest GED completion rate in the MDOC prison school system which he used to berate the other school principals who could not even come close to his GED completion numbers. Even though he was the only prison school that had both day and night shifts of teachersContinue reading “Kerfuffle”

I passed the examination and was now the official GED Proctor at our prison school. Our new principal made sure that I had all of the support I needed to make it successful. We went over how the exams were to be administered, how often they were to be given, and the security needed toContinue reading “Karma”

I was surprised to find out about our new principals’ credentials. She didn’t share that with me when she asked to see how I ran my Horticulture program a few years earlier. However, she took that information and developed a very successful program at another prison. I was concerned now that she wished to speakContinue reading “Our New Principal”