In an attempt to accommodate a surplus of student volunteers, the student directors of the Prison Inmate Tutoring Program, a community service organization in which students tutor prison inmates for their GED exams, are contemplating expanding the program from the Cumberland County Prison to the higher-security State Correctional Institution in Camp Hill.

Program coordinator Katie Sullivan ’18 said that the Cumberland County Prison does not offer enough space for the program’s student volunteers.

“We can only take ten people, which is really frustrating because there are probably 20 that want to get involved right now,” Sullivan stated. Currently participants are taken on a first come first serve basis, but Sullivan is thinking of instituting an application next semester due to increased interest.

Sullivan said that two students from the class of 2015 started the program as first-years in 2010. Prior to graduation, says Sullivan, the two boys wanted to expand the program to the prison in Camp Hill so that more students could get involved. 

The program meets twice a week with ten students. Each student is paired with one inmate, and meets one of two days, said Sullivan

“If somebody’s uncomfortable with an inmate…the student can work with somebody else, so it’s flexible. But, it’s helpful to work with the same inmate every week if it’s an effective pairing,” she explained.

The inmates take a GED preparation class during the week, independent of Dickinson’s program. The tutoring sessions led by students are meant to supplement and clarify what the inmates are learning in their class, Sullivan said.

According to the GED testing service website, there are five different test sections: reading, science, math, writing and social studies. Each section is taken as an independent test, so inmates typically focus on each subject as they prepare to take that test, said Hyla Jacobson ’18, a program volunteer.

Jacobson originally thought being in a prison would be scary, though she reports that everyone was extremely nice and her overall experience has been positive.

“It’s like you forget you’re at a prison,” she said, “you forget you’re working with someone who is in jail.”.

One subject that many inmates struggle with is grammar, says Sullivan, noting that lacking “a really good foundation from elementary school,” or even “the way [one’s] parents speak” can have a negative impact on a person’s grammar.

For Jacobson, math is both the “best and the hardest” subject to teach.

“With math, there’s a rhyme and a reason. There’s an equation, a rule to follow…but it’s also the hardest because [I’m teaching] things I haven’t done in years,” said Jacobson.

Cumberland County Prison is meant for individuals serving shorter sentences for minor offenses, explained Jacobson. If a more serious crime has been committed then the inmate is moved to the higher security prison in Camp Hill. Students generally do not know the exact offenses, Jacobson clarified.

“You know it’s nothing too serious, but you’re not supposed to ask them what it is.”

For more information. contact Sullivan at [email protected].