When Ex-Prisoners Share Their Stories With Students

By Stephanie Bower. Every spring the guests enter our classroom looking a little ill at ease, aliens in the world of whiteboards and podiums. Coaxed to sit in the front of the class and to turn their chairs to face our students, they find their voices as, one by one, they begin to tell versions of crime and punishment, stories of the decades they spent behind bars and the months, weeks, sometimes even just days since their release. More...