Dougie & Tom Trumble Grant: An Inside Look at the U.S. Prison System:Visiting the Women of York Correctional Institute
- School Year: 2016-2017
- Applicants: Jessica Palliardi, Lead Teacher
- School: Hall High School
- Subjects: Social Studies
The grant will allow 10th – 12th grade students at Hall High School to gain an inside look at the U.S. prison system as part of the Introduction to Sociology Course. The students will have the opportunity to tour the York Correctional Institute in Niantic, Connecticut and visit the intake area, mental health ward, minimum and maximum security cells, solitary confinement cells, the prison school, and the cafeteria. In addition, they will meet with a panel of prisoners who will share their life stories, the crimes they committed, and what they have learned from being incarcerated after their crime. Back at school they will have an “in-school Sociology field trip” that will occur with a panel comprised of students who visited the prison, along with Deborah Rogala, the Resettlement Program Operations Director, and former prisoners who have completed the program and have reentered society. Finally, group research projects will be completed on various components of the U.S. prison system and presented to the rest of the class. In addition, a select group of students from the Sociology class with present and facilitate a workshop on human rights issues in prisons during the annual Human Rights Day.