San Quentin’s Voluntary Education Program has grown in the past several months adding five positions to the existing two.
Six VEP teachers now operate as Literacy Coordinators out of the Education C Building, and one position is yet to be filled. Each coordinator maintains a roster of 120 students, resulting in services to 720 students. Participants can earn GEDs, college degrees, milestone credits, and life skills competencies.
Participation in VEP is voluntary, unlike the ABE Program in which students are assigned based on educational accomplishment. A student can be enrolled in VEP and assigned to a job simultaneously.
“For so many students’ educational success isn’t a matter of mental horsepower, but a matter of engaging their motivational transmissions, said VEP coordinator G. Young.
“VEP gives students the option of accelerated growth.” Fellow coordinator K. Williams agrees, “VEP students are highly motivated.”
VEP coordinators are equally motivated to provide a full service educational experience, D. Searle provides GED math instruction Tuesdays, 1-2pm in Education Building C2, and J. Kaufman provides GED essay writing workshops there Thursdays, 1-2pm. VEP college students work mostly in Room C1, where coordinators facilitate learning activities for students enrolled in a half dozen different colleges, universities and trade schools. Building C1 and 2 classroom doors are open for students Monday through Thursday, 8am to 2:30 pm.
“One-on-one direct instruction gives the student confidence to discuss a learning problem without embarrassment, while the study hall format, and the additional teachers, assures that someone is always there to help,” said VEP Coordinator D. Bray.
“VEP evolved out of the Independent Study and Distance Learning programs that had been established some years ago at some of the institutions,” said T. Bolema, who has facilitated such programs both at Lancaster and San Quentin.
“Program success depends on the amount of support that management is willing to extend to a non-traditional learning model. Meeting the needs of VEP students is a challenge, but with the increased staff, and the inmate clerks’ and tutors’ assistance, so far so good,” said Bolema.
“About 20 percent of our students are ready to take their GED, 40 percent are taking college courses, and another 40 percent are preparing for the GED,” said Kaufman.
Along with C1 and 2 classroom activities, VEP coordinators also work with students in the Condemned Unit, South Block, the Hospital, PIA, and the Firehouse.
