Recently, I have seen the atmosphere here at East Moline change for the better, which is hard to believe. Now, you may think that change is quite common; but, here in prison very little ever changes for the better, so it is quite shocking. The change that I’ referring to is in the inmates’ attitudes towards both the interest and participation in programs that are available. I believe Toastmasters are at the underpinning of this change.
In 2013-2014, a fellow toastmaster and 1 began organizing and working on obtaining the traveling lectern (a District award for early completion of 10 DCP goals). I believe that this was the start of and the foundation for what is transpiring today in East Moline. The previous year we were vying for the traveling lectern; but, unfortunately, our funds came up short and we were unable to pay our membership dues. Our club, the Hilltop Toasters survives by the generous donations from members, volunteers, family, and friends of the club; those who believe in us despite our circumstances. Because of those people, we were able to make our dreams, realities.
After winning that traveling lectern, the executive committee from that term, realized that we had the full support of the membership. We set out on a new endeavor, to push and support our members in achieving as many awards as possible. I am not going to say that it was easy, especially with the restrictions put on us by the administration here at East Moline. But, nevertheless, we have been able to make great strides. I believe we did this by allowing each of our members a stake in ownership of the idea that as a group we could achieve any goal that we put our minds to.
What happened was that we became a family.
Toastmasters began to be recognized by the administration and before we knew it, the Hilltop Toasters were being asked to emcee events and give regularly scheduled talks in classes (which we continue to do today).
Mr. Miranda who was working on his HPL project was trying to get toastmasters who wanted to be involved in learning and receiving training from the Illinois Department of Public Health in order to be peer educators, giving presentations to the general population about STDs, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, and prevention. 7 members of the Hilltop Toasters participated in the training and began giving weekly presentations to new arrivals here at the prison. The prison requires that all inmates at the facility listen to this presentation.
This sparked Mr. Gray (our current Area Governor and immediate past president) to come up with ideas for other programs in response to a lack of available programs at the facility. Mr. Gray’s vision was that these programs would be peer led to keep the cost down so that the administration would be more apt to give its approval. This would become his HPL project. Some of his programs include:
• Thinking for a change -learning and adopting cognitive thinking behaviors, social skills for applying change in thinking/re-acting in situations and circumstances.
• Anger management -Learning to recognize triggers and how to control anger.
• Life commandments -Recognizing what are those things that dictate who you are.
• Inside Out Dads – Better fathering skills, learning to be a better dad/father while incarcerated, identifying your Parenting flaws for improvement.
These programs run either twice a week for six weeks or once a week for twelve weeks and then recycle.
Since the beginning of 2015, we also provide orientation to new arrivals on the policies and procedures of the institution. This allows the new arrivals a better understanding of the way things work here at the institution and permits them to get answers to questions they may have, answered of course to the best of our knowledge at that time. Prior to this peer led involvement, the orientation process consisted of wheeling in a TV and having the incoming watch a 20 year old, 2-hour video.
Another peer led presentation is the Track class, which consists of five consecutive days that go further into detail about the various programs being offered, and the general knowledge on how to navigate the incarcerated experience. The following is a brief syllabus of the days:
• Day One – Programming available at EMCC such as what is available, chaplaincy, clinical services, education, and Leisure time services.
• Day Two – Rational thinking, this presentation/discussion ties in problem identification, should I or should I not change; Cognitive thinking focusing more on what I want to change.
• Day Three – Personal transition, this discussion is about rebuilding the bridges that got burned, establishing a line of communication with family, friends, reaching out for help.
• Day Four – Education and employment, give information about the schooling offered here at E.M.C.C., Tabe testing, tutoring, academic classes, and vocational, programs. Give them information on resources for networking, planning. Explain resumes, and the interview process.
• Day Five-Wellness and goal settings, Taking care of one self while in prison, talking about STDS HIV/AIDS Hepatitis and Prevention, and setting goals while incarcerated and after release.
Finally, the administration has asked us to implement a state mandatory 12-week life style redirection program. These classes have had a great impact on not only those who have presented these classes, but more importantly on those who have attended those classes.
I want to be clear to state that not all of the people presenting these classes are toastmasters, but nearly all of the leadership comes from Toastmasters, specifically those who have experience with the
executive committee.
It is for that reason that I believe winning the traveling lectern and the Hilltop Toasters becoming the number 4 ranked club in the world in terms of educational awards earned was the driving force of the current atmosphere of change here at East Moline Correctional Center, a change in the administration, a change in the presenters, and a change in the general population’s attitude towards our club.
It is a new beginning for those here at East Moline Correctional Center.