San Quentin prisoners who want to improve their literacy are invited to apply to Project REACH, an extension of the Marin Literacy Program.
REACH, which stands for Reach for Education, Achievement, and Change with Help. The program was founded in 1999.
Project REACH accommodates individuals’ desires to achieve their goals in GED preparation, and other academic accomplishments, such as English as a Second Language (ESL).
A long-time student at Project REACH, Carlos Ramirez, 35, only completed the eighth grade. He said he wants to continue learning English to better himself. Ramirez’s work history consisted mostly of menial labor work in the restaurant business. He said long working hours is tediously-laboring and meaningless.
“I want to do better. Restaurant jobs are not for me—not again,” Ramirez said in an interview. “I want to go out of prison and get better jobs, not the same one as before—no more. I want a better job in prison too. That is why I go to learn. Learning gives me the opportunity to get a better job.”
Ramirez says he prefers Project REACH rather than the other literacy programs at San Quentin because of its peer-to-peer tutoring.
“Peer-to-peer tutoring works so well, because of our social network,” said Joseph Demerson, the program’s chairman. “Because we eat together, play sports together and do other activities, the transition to learning is easier.”
The executive body of the program is: Chairman Joseph Demerson, Vice Chairman Michael Palmore, Secretary Bobby Evans, Treasurer Nguyen Son, and Student Coordinator Theodore Fields.
Marin Literacy sponsors are Madeleine Provost, Sue Pixley and Carolyn Hardee.
The program’s chief sponsor is San Quentin Literacy Coordinator Tom Bolema.
San Quentin inmates can apply for the program at the Education Department. The program meets every Wednesday night at 6:20. Sign-up sheets will be posted on the wall in your housing unit.