More knowledge, less recidivism is goal

July 23--Richard Midkiff circulates among five folding tables in a cramped library meeting space. He hands each of the 25 students a stapled lecture note packet as he passes by.

Each page displays three slides from a PowerPoint presentation and provides adjacent lines for hand-written notes. Some students thumb through the packet. Others pull pens out of their shirt breast pockets, ready for the day's lesson.

For the next hour they will learn about financial literacy -- a topic artfully scribed on a mobile whiteboard at the front of the temporary classroom. More specifically: how to buy a car.

"Who would be the best to buy a car from?" one student asks, his hand held above his head.

"A reputable dealer," answers volunteer and teacher Stacie Price, a branch manager for Insight Credit Union.

"Always start with your bank," she continues, to get a loan.

All 25 students, in their matching light blue uniforms with white stripes down the side of the pant legs, are concentrated on Price, absorbing her every word.

"I've never had a group this interactive," Price comments after the lesson. The hour-long class is more of a discussion than a lecture.

Before the lesson, students discussed why they signed up for the eight-week financial literacy course.

"I have no skills or know-how to use a credit card and use it wisely," said David Yoakum, 34, who has never had a credit card.

He wants to learn how to avoid debt and common pitfalls for when he is able to finally get one.

Yoakum, like his 24 classmates, is an inmate at the Marion Correctional Institution north of Ocala. He has been incarcerated since the age of 17 and expects to be released in 2030.

Critical skills

Jabarius Pittman, 21, has been in prison since the age of 16. He also does not know much about credit cards, but wanted to learn to get a head start for when he is released.

Price's financial literacy class is one of 31 offered as part of the newly formed SAGE Personal Development program, which is about halfway through its second eight-week term. Inmates choose which classes to enroll in. Some take one at a time; others, like Jason Childs, 33, take all of them.

Most courses are taught by volunteers, but inmates also are called upon to teach about topics they are passionate about, Midkiff said. Yoakum teaches two courses offered through the program.

"It's a judgement free zone," Childs said of the class atmosphere. Other inmates agreed, saying there are no stupid questions to ask.

Class topics include financial literacy, networking skills, principles of real estate, small business strategies, creative writing, computer usage and how to invest in stocks, to name a few.

"I learned what the cloud was," Childs remarked on taking the computer usage course. (The cloud is a type of online storage system that uses internet servers to save files instead of saving the files to a single computer. Those files can then be accessed wherever the owner has internet access.)

Several courses also focus on skills that will help inmates gain and maintain employment after their release.

Employment is critical to whether ex-offenders are successful, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Statistics from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts show that 93 percent of ex-offenders who find and keep jobs within two to five years after their release will not return to prison.

Project incubator

SAGE is the brainchild of Midkiff, who has been incarcerated for 21 years. He approached Jim Barton, MCI's law library supervisor, officials at the Department of Corrections and Manal Fakhoury, of Fakhoury Leadership International, with the idea after seeing the success of the prison's Gavel Club.

Gavel Club is an affiliate program of Toastmasters, an international organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills. Under this affiliation, inmates do not have to pay normal membership dues.

There are two clubs at MCI, one at the Marion Work Camp, and one at Lowell Correctional Institute, the women's prison, with requests floating in for more clubs, said Fakhoury, a longtime leader in Toastmasters. Volunteers attend the Gavel Club's weekly meetings to teach members how to conduct them properly.

Every meeting has a theme, three to five prepared speeches, a time keeper and a quiz master, who checks that everyone is paying attention, Fakhoury said. In smaller groups, members also practice impromptu speaking on pre-designated topics.

"Attending a Gavel Club in the prison is much better done than in the real world," Fakhoury said. Inmates memorize the mission statement, which is rare, she said.

The clubs, Fakhoury wrote in an email "have served as an incubator for several excellent projects."

Midkiff saw how the Gavel Club was positively impacting members' lives and wanted to do more.

"The stars lined up," he said.

Midkiff said he hopes SAGE helps fellow inmates believe in themselves and prepare for their re-entry into society. Slightly fewer than 100 inmates are members of the SAGE program, with several more on a waiting list.

"Buzz has developed," Fakhoury said.

Classes are held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 to 8:15 p.m. Monday through Friday. Some teachers give assignments, Fakhoury said, but there's no "heavy homework."

"It's very much an active learning process," she said.

Many SAGE program members also are involved with the Gavel Club, but not all. Some found out about the program through word-of-mouth on the compound, or they were individually recruited by Midkiff and others.

"I blame Richie (Midkiff)," said James Stevens about how he got involved with SAGE.

The 34-year-old is now part of SAGE's Membership Committee, which vets program applicants. The committee checks applicant discipline records and keeps track of the waiting list.

Stevens said SAGE has changed his attitude on life.

"I started to have reason," he said.

Debate team, dorm planned

Steve Freeman, 50, has participated in other personal development and re-entry programs. He said all pale in comparison to SAGE.

"It's the best tool for somebody getting back into the community," he said.

Many programs, Freeman said, are rushed or don't go in depth on certain topics. SAGE is specifically designed to do that.

Ronel Oscar, 44, said the SAGE program and participating in the Gavel Club have given him confidence. He now encourages others to get involved with both programs. He wants more inmates to join to better themselves.

"We have to work within ourselves," Oscar said. "It changed my perspective of how I see the world."

The number and variety of SAGE program classes are continuously growing, enveloping more interests and topics. As the new program grows, Fakhoury and Midkiff have many more plans they want to put in place.

They are working, for example, on developing a debate team that will compete against high school debate teams and teams from other prison facilities, Fakhoury said.

Midkiff wants to combat what he says is an influx of gangs on the compound with a 16-week course. He thinks he could attract members by appealing to their business side. The program would help them change the trajectory of their lives.

"They're sharp, but nobody believes in them," he said of gang members.

Midkiff also wants to establish a SAGE dorm that would house 50 to 60 program participants and 10 peer counselors who have been in the program for a longer period of time. The dorm would be open to anyone interested.

The Department of Corrections has designated dorms for veterans, therapeutic communities, and faith and character communities, department officials said in an email. The department has created a dorm for the Second Chance Pell Pilot Program at Columbia Correction Institution Annex, which offers inmates courses leading to Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees.

Midkiff's proposed SAGE dorm would perpetuate an engaging, learning atmosphere, he said.

"It's going to take us to help us," Midkiff said.

Contact Katie Pohlman at 867-4065, katie.pohlman@starbanner.com or @katie_pohlman.

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