Southeast Ohio Jail needs tutors for inmates

by Erin Roh
For The Post

Few people enter jail and leave with a college degree.

And even fewer receive a judge's permission to leave jail grounds every day to attend college.

But Mark Trimble, 29, is an exception. As an inmate at the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail, Trimble participates in a study-release program at Hocking College. He hopes to attend Ohio University eventually to study either the social sciences or computer science. He has also said he is considering graduate school.

"(It's) probably because I felt within myself the need to better myself. I don't want to get into a trap," Trimble said.

Trimble, who is from Franklintown, Pa., is serving time for distribution of narcotics. Although Trimble had a high school diploma when he was started serving his sentence, many other inmates do not.

For the inmates who want to earn their general equivalency diploma, the regional jail provides tutors to those who need help studying. No teachers are available because the jail can not afford to pay them.

However, the jail has seen a lack of volunteers for the past few months, said jail employee Valerie Six, who manages inmate programming. In the three years that the jail has been bringing in tutors, they usually have been Ohio University students.

"Students are a good influence here. They bring their knowledge. It's been a good thing," Six said. "I've seen a couple guys leave here to get their GED and have passed because of the students."

Tutors usually work one quarter for about an hour a week, Six said. The student's availability determines the tutoring schedule because the inmate will always be there.

Although he never met with tutors, Trimble said he thinks the tutors could be beneficial. The inmates would benefit more, though, if the jail could give GED tests on its premises.

"Yes, I think they'd be of help if a GED testing center was here," he said.

Six says the job also is a learning experience for the tutors. Students studying fields such as social work and criminal justice benefit because working with inmates helps them in their classes.

Abigail Fox, an OU junior who studies psychology, has been a tutor at the jail for about a year.

"The first time going there it was (intimidating). Once you start going more often, it's fine," she said.

To help the tutors feel more comfortable, the jail videotapes the tutoring sessions and loans them beepers.

"You receive a beeper if something were to go wrong," Fox said, although she no longer carries hers. "You come to a level of understanding with them. A relationship is established."

As an added bonus, Fox said tutoring the inmates helps her remember what she has learned in class.

"It's a rewarding program, I enjoy working one-on-one," she said. "It's actually fun."