From Vera:
Dameon Stackhouse was watching the daily announcements as they played on a loop at East Jersey State Prison, as he did most mornings, when he heard one for a new program that would allow prospective students to complete college courses while in prison. He listened three times before it fully sank in.
“I got excited, I started telling everybody,” Stackhouse recalled.
When the New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons (NJ-STEP) initiative launched at East Jersey State Prison in 2013, Stackhouse was among the first cohort of students. Over the next four-and-a-half years, he completed college courses in subjects including calculus, physics, psychology, and Arabic.
“The experience of actually being able to take college courses while I was inside changed my life. It gave me hope,” Stackhouse said. “I realized, you know what, there’s no limit to what you’re going to be able to do . . . if you focus at this particular moment.” Continue reading >>>
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