Teaching at the Jail: A Volunteer Instructor’s View
By Jayme Epstein, NEGOTIATION WORKS Volunteer Instructor
Volunteer instructor Jayme Epstein prepares to enter the DC Jail to teach one of the several courses she has taught for Negotiation Works since joining our team.
When I was asked to write a piece for this newsletter about my experience teaching at the DC Jail, I was stuck. What was unique about teaching at the jail? How would I describe the experience to volunteer instructors who taught at the other sites offering Negotiation Works courses? And then one morning it came to me: I was having difficulty because teaching at the jail is the same as teaching at the other sites at which I’ve had the pleasure of volunteering, including Calvary Women’s Services, Together We Bake, and Urban Ed.
Yes, the certification requirements of the DC Department of Corrections are burdensome, and clearing security can be a bit tiresome – and you can’t bring your phone in, or a water bottle, or paper clips and stapled papers, and it can be too hot or too cold and often noisy, and the space may be less than ideal, but the students are the same as everywhere else. The great majority are highly engaged, others less so. The students immerse themselves in the role plays and enjoy their fellow students’ acting. They bring a wealth of life experiences to the discussions, and the life experiences they share are much the same as the students “outside:” issues with life partners and co-parents, their children, and landlords. There are cohorts who live and attend programming together and have stable attendance and others that have a less stable number of participants. And everyone loves the BATNA session the most!
If anything comes to mind that was particularly memorable – and somewhat unique – it’s the final day in the first set of courses I co-taught at the jail last fall. As my co-teacher and I wrapped up class and were preparing to leave, many of the men wanted to shake hands, thank us for coming, and ask, “Will you offer the class again? I think many other people would benefit from this course!” And in the Young Men Emerging Unit, we couldn’t leave until the unit’s official photographer took a picture of the whole class and we posed for individual pictures with everyone who wanted one.
At at Glance: Negotiation Works’ at the Jail
NW started providing programming in 2021 in the DC Jail
NW has taught 18 multi week courses in the DC Jail so far, with four more scheduled this spring
NW has taught on 8 separate units in the DC Jail
NW has taught 218 incarcerated individuals in the DC Jail, with more expected in our upcoming courses