The Mississippi Department of Corrections issued the following statement and video.
The entire Mississippi State Board of Cosmetology traveled to the Delta Correctional Facility (DCF) in Greenwood to cut the ribbon after spending a year helping to organize an instructional program for females there. In the program, the first class of 28 inmates faced rigorous coursework in the science of cosmetology for a year. Once past the exams, they are officially licensed.
DCF Superintendent Susan Swindle said the inmates have responded enthusiastically toward participating in the program as more than 50 inmates applied for the 28 available positions.
“To join and complete a course like this takes dedication on their behalf,” Swindle said. “Everyone remains excited about the program since it started and the girls are tickled about it.”
Inmate Katrina Gordon echoed that enthusiasm in describing the accomplishment of finishing the program and being more prepared for life after incarceration. “You have to have the passion to create and the will to keep going when you lose clients and get more,” Gordon said.
Motivation was a key component for selecting the first class members, said Richard Thompson, a contract consultant who helped to start the program. “We wanted to make sure we were getting people who wanted to be in the program and finish it. We had a great pool of applicants for interviews,” Thompson said. “We are looking to add more programs in the beauty industry.”
Graduates of this new program earn money and leave prison with a license and tools. Cosmetology Board officials said hardworking graduates can earn six figures within a few years.
Sharon Clark, executive director of the Mississippi Board of Cosmetology, said the graduates are skilled and ready to work from day one. “They can walk into any salon across the State of Mississippi, apply for a job, easily walk into that field and just pick up and go,” Clark said.
20 comments:
So does the public get to go there for work on their hair and will or has MDOC created a school for prospective barbers? Good luck ladies.
Oh great, just what this state needs most. More Cosmetologists. No need to fool around with stuff like robotics, coding, IT, you know, 21st century technology.
@ 8:40
Being able to work in those fields and do all of that stuff is largely predicated on holding an advanced degree, these women need training to be able to feed themselves and their families, and having the hoodspah to get that training in jail should be commended not looked down upon.
Can you imagine the pass rate of an advanced calculus course in the joint?
8:40, so it’s your suggestion that the State should be teaching it’s prisoners how to build robots instead?
This is an excellent program for the inmates. Congratulations to all of them.
So--people want to use prison to better themselves to prepare for a life in society? good for them! that's the entire point of being in prison-to see where you went wrong, to mend your ways, and to learn skills that will be useful when you get out.
this is great! more prisoners should have the opportunity to earn a community college degree and actually contribute to society. i think we may have a problem with repeat offenders in this state, not sure. imagine if half of the people in prison would come out and want to do better. it may have a real and lasting impact.
This is wonderful -- what a great opportunity for these ladies!!
Good for them! The prison system should also institute a healthy lifestyle program for the inmates.
8:40, a quick internet search would have informed you that there’s expected to be an 11% increase in demand for cosmetologists in this decade. So, in addition to the fact that you’re suggesting that we try to teach a group of ladies that probably have only a high school diploma, a GED, or neither of those robotics, which is absurd; you ignored or missed the fact that these ladies, once trained, could actually fill a need with a new career when they are released.
I bet they make sure you look great from the side too.
Anybody that craps on this story (i.e. 8:40) should just refrain from posting. This is a great story and will hopefully lead to successful members of society on the outside.
I think this is great. They're learning a trade to make a living once they get out while they are paying their debt to society.
This is a GOOD thing!!
Good for them! I am all for inmates coming out with a skill that can help them earn legal income. More of this.
This is very good. Maybe it will help them break the cycle and help them to have a successful life.
Burl’s stripes cuts and curls! Free neck tat with any cut and color.
G.
Hoodspah? Try again.
Alabama now has a junior college just for inmates. As of the most recent graduation report, 45% had accepted job offers. There may be other ways to break the street-to-jail-to-street-to-jail cycle, but this looks like a promising one.
Good thing they're learning cosmetology and not getting English degrees. To whomever commissioned the building sign, to the sign painters, and the MDOC public relations personnel who sent out the press release with the embarrassing photo, it's Women's and not Womens. Even my auto-correct knows that. At the very least someone could have photoshopped an apostrophe into the photo prior to sending it out.
10:39 - It's my opinion that you are wrong. Women's would be correct only if women were in possession of the institution, and they are not.
This is an institution FOR women, not one possessed BY women.
The same is true of a "mens basketball league" and a blog that might be named "Men and womens blog of Jackson". They don't own or possess the blog. It is simply intended FOR them.
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