From Dragonfly: ACE

One way to keep yourself busy, while at Carswell, is to take ACE (Adult Continuing Education) courses. They are offered two ways, in six-one hour sessions (one night/week), or quick 1-2 hour video based classes. At the beginning of each class, all the students take a "pre-test" and at the end, the same test as a "post-test" gauging how much the student learned. If the student attends all the sessions and passes the post-test, they receive a certificate, which also grants them "sentry" points. Sentry points can be used to lower someone's security level, making them eligible for camp or a lower security facility at some point (if they start at a medium or low security level).

As a tutor, one of my functions is to teach ACE courses. Last round, I taught a U.S. Government course. I had about 10 students and I can verify that they all learned a lot about how the U.S. Government really works. At one point, I had all the students trying to pass bills/laws, and the students were the different branches of government. After 30 minutes, only 1 of four bills made it into law... just like the stalemate we often get in the real congress and government.

This time, I am teaching essay writing. I have ten students, again, all trying to understand the 5-paragraph essay, so that they can pass the writing sections of the GED. It's a lot of fun working with students on their writing. I love seeing their improvement over time... from not being able to write a sentence, to interesting full paragraphs. It just makes me smile when I can see a student "get it."

I think that the next session, I will be teaching employment skills. It's another topic I know fairly well. I look forward to helping others find some "hope" in finding work, now that they are stamped with "felon" across their forehead. I like a statement one of the teachers said to me. Forty doors may be shut in our faces, but that 41st door may just be open. The more employable we are, the more likely that door will be open, even though we are felons.

The best part of ACE classes, though, is that we can also take them. I teach my classes on Monday evenings, which allows me to sit in on others during the rest of the week. In the last session, I took a personal finance class. It was a requirement on my PSI, but it was interesting anyway. It definitely got me thinking about my finances once I actually hold money again. What does a 1 dollar bill look like? Hah, it's been so long since I've seen one.

This session of classes, though, I took two... one video one hour class, and one 6 week class. The video class I did with Lola and Freckles... believe it or not, it was called "Cruising Around the World." It had NOTHING to do with "cruises." There was no buffet. It was about places you can visit from the sea... it started in Nova Scotia (a place I can never visit since Canada is closed to all U.S. felons), went through the Caribbean, went to Guatamala, through the Panama Canal, and then up the Western Coast of North America, stopping in California and British Columbia before hitting Alaska. At each "stop," the video talked about the culture and people there and things that tourists can see and do. It was magnificent to see all the places. I've been to several of them, but the video really explained them in ways I never knew. I believe we all "passed" the post-test.

My other course this session is "Mental Math." Yes, after teaching math ALL day long, I chose to take a class about math at night. If you want to call me a "Nerd" that is perfectly fine with me. We've had two weeks so far (2 classes) and I've learned a great way to multiply 11 by any number in my head (up to four digit numbers). Very cool. I have also learned quick ways to do other multiplications, subtractions, etc., all in seconds in my brain. Some of the "tricks" seem to work great for me, and other's just slow me down. But, it is a really cool class. I'm taking many of the tricks and teaching them to the students I work with. I look forward to seeing the next four evenings of math tricks as the class continues. They just announced a "Mental Math 2" course for next session. I will definitely be there once again.