GENESEO- Sheriff Thomas J. Dougherty is pleased to announce
a new inmate reading program, “The Storybook Project,” in cooperation with
students at SUNY Geneseo.
The Sheriff’s Office is collaborating with students in a
class taught by faculty member Ginni Jurkowski from the college’s Department of
Communication. Students from her course “Features and Opinion Writing” enter
the jail supervised by faculty and deputies to meet with parent inmates to make
an audio recording of the inmate reading a story book for their children. The
recording is then mailed home to the child with the book for the child to read
along while listening to mom or dad reading to them on the compact disc.
“We are excited to partner with the college,” said Sheriff’s
Captain Jeff Hammond, who led the initiative for the Sheriff’s Office. “When the college approached us, I saw this
as an opportunity to help keep the family bond in place during a time that some
moms and dads have made poor choices and subsequently are separated from their
children.”
Students from the college have been going to the jail twice
a week working with inmates requesting the opportunity to make the audio
recording. They expect to meet with
approximately 30 inmates a month.
Members of the Sheriff’s Office Jail Division facilitate the
shipment of the book and CD to the inmate’s child. Students from Mrs. Jurkowski’s Public
Relations writing course also have been involved by creating promotional
materials about the project as part of their active learning.
“Through this learning experience, students are actively
involved in our community,” said Jurkowski. “They apply the skills from our
specialized writing classes to real-world settings. Students are especially
pleased to be able to help the children who are impacted by the incarceration
of a parent. The benefits to the
students, the inmates and the children can have a life-long impact.”
All of the participating college students attended a
training class on what is acceptable and not acceptable and also what is legal
and illegal when entering a correctional facility. The funding for the program is provided by
inmate funds at no cost to the taxpayer.
