Breaking Cycles: Education at SCI-Muncy Opens New Doors

Marjorie Jay shares her journey from dropping out of school to earning her secondary diploma through the Penn State Muncy Tutoring Program, showing the power of education to inspire change.

When my mom was in the eighth grade, she got really sick, so her mom took her out of school. She didn’t know how to read or spell. When we were growing up, we didn’t have a mom to teach us how to do our homework. It put us way behind in school.

Dropping Out and Searching for Direction

When I was a senior, I became pregnant and dropped out. At 20 and pregnant, I tried to go back to school, but it was too hard. Then I started looking for love in all the wrong places. After reconciling with my children’s father and pregnant with my third child, things still didn’t work. A few months after my daughter was born, we split up. I began using drugs, and the company I kept led me to trouble. In prison, I started looking for a better future for myself.

My first bid at SCI-Muncy, I wasn’t focused on getting my diploma. I didn’t have a long bid, and I couldn’t finish. The biggest issue was that I never believed in myself. My life was falling apart. Also, I realized I wanted to be a better role model for my children and my two grandsons.

Choosing Education for a Better Future

I’ve never met my grandsons, because of the mistakes I’ve made in my life. So the first thing I did was sign up for my secondary diploma and tutoring. SCI-Muncy has a program in cooperation with Penn State University, where a Penn State facilitator pairs inmate tutors with inmate learners—approximately 260 learners since the program began. Several have received a GED, Commonwealth secondary diploma.

The Impact of Tutoring and Support

I received my secondary diploma. I’ve had a lot of help and encouragement to further my education, thanks to tutoring. The Penn State Muncy Tutoring Program has been instrumental in helping individuals like me achieve educational goals, such as obtaining a secondary diploma, which has inspired me and set me on a better life path. I believe the program should be modeled in other institutions. Currently, its sole existence is at the women’s prison in Muncy, Pennsylvania.

Overcoming Doubt and Building Confidence

When I walked into my first tutoring session, I was really nervous. I didn’t know what to expect, and when I took my first test, I didn’t do as well. So I kept telling myself I couldn’t do it. But as time kept going by, I kept getting better on my test. The tutoring program has helped me so much. It gave me hope and faith. I can do anything if I work hard. Nothing comes easy. You have to be willing to work hard for what you want.

A Conversation with My Tutor

I interviewed my tutor regarding our sessions.

MJ: “Ms. Amy, what sticks out in your mind about your learners?”
AMCB: “I always remember my first session with my learners, and you were such a quiet little thing and would tell me all your ‘can’t.’ Boy, have you changed! You don’t use the word ‘can’t’—and that’s great!”

MJ: “Is there a specific session you remember when you tutored me that was special?”
AMCB: “There are three stand-out sessions with you. First is when we were doing algebra and you were telling me ‘I can’t do this’ every time. Then one day it clicked. You just overflowed with joy and kept saying, ‘give me another one’ every time you finished a problem. Second, you were my first learner to jump through a grade level on a test. I was just so in awe of what you’d done. I knew you could do the work. After the test, your confidence in yourself went up, and I never heard you say ‘I can’t’ again. Third, when you worked on your article after you graduated and were accepted into the PJP Writers Workshop.”

MJ: “Why do you tutor?”
AMCB: “There are a lot of reasons. The biggest is that statistically, 75% of state prison populations did not complete high school or can be classified as low literate. This just boggles my mind. Your situation was that you fell in an educational desert, but there are different reasons for the issue. When I walked into Penn State’s program here, I wanted to be a part of it. I have been in other institutions. None have the resources the women here do. It’s why I write about the program. I think its model should exist in every prison.

According to the program coordinator, Ms. Roush, Penn State Muncy Tutoring Program is the only program like this in the state. It started because of a grant Penn State received. The program began about five years ago. PSMTP works off of a two-year grant. We just learned this grant is available to us again. This is always a challenge, because we don’t know if the grant is available each time.

Education gave me hope, confidence, and the chance to change my life. Thanks to SCI-Muncy’s tutoring program, I earned my diploma and now believe in myself again. Programs like this prove that education can transform lives—even behind bars.

Want to read more? Check out How Prison Education Transformed My Life

The post Breaking Cycles: Education at SCI-Muncy Opens New Doors first appeared on Prison Writers.