....AND THE PRISONERS CAME TO SCHOOL

In the "WHO" portion of my blog I talk about teaching at risk students and my belief that there are far worse fates for these students than dropping out of school. The one fate I failed to mention is going to prison. I've lost three students to prison in the last two years. Two got life without parol for murder one and one got 7 years for gang fighting which because there were more than thirty involved was considered a riot and became a felony. Today two prisoners from the Palestine State Correctional Facility came to talk to our students. One was servicing 12 years for aggravated assault, the other 20 for vehicular manslaughter (driving drunk, ran a stop sign and a motorcycle broadsided him killing the driver of the motorcycle). Both were basically good kids, both played football and one had offers from all over the United States for scholarships. Both were drug and alcohol abusers in high school and continued the abuse after graduation, which ended their college careers for a term behind bars. They spoke openly and honestly to our students. Told of the fear of sleeping in a dorm with 75 guys, being sucked into a prison gang or the fear of not being in a gang, and the loneliness. One even showed deep emotion when speaking of his mom and dad. After we retuned to our classes one of my students had evidently had an ephiphany. He was "ministering" to another student about getting off drugs and setting his life straight. He told me that his current way of life wasn't working for him. He had been selling drugs making a quick $500-$600 a day. He told me he'd been thinking about straightening up for a while but after hearing the prisoners he knew he could never ever go to the pen.
So, today was a great day, the prisoners came to school and save my student!