“I thought [nature] had nothing to do with me, aside from the fact that I could look at the sunrise or walk through a forest. I didn’t realize that humans are in fact a very large part of nature. I didn’t realize nature and science was something so tangible.”
Ambrosia Riche
SPP prairie conservation nursery technician
Instructor Grady Mitchell (center) poses with a class of Roots of Success graduates. Photo by Joslyn Rose Trivett.
“After all the injustices that I have brought upon my community, it is an honor to give back positively in any way.”
Michael Linear
Roots of Success graduate
Beekeepers at Airway Heights Corrections Center pose with their hives. Photo courtesy of Kay Heinrich.
““For me, science education hasn’t been just the pathway to a better understanding of the world I live in. It has also been the catalyst that has driven me to academic and humane maturity. It has deepened my compassion for my fellow man. It has spurred me to want more for myself and my planet, and to be more than just the number that is used to identify me. I am no longer an apathetic, uninformed criminal with no perspective and no future. I am no longer just DOC #756060. I am a global citizen who knows now that he understands little, and who seeks to understand much. Thanks to the availability of science education here in prison, I am not just a better student, but a better human.”
Richard Kirkham,
Workshop Series student, Roots of Success graduate, Beginner Beekeeper
Ambrosia Riche studies prairie plants growing in a seed nursery. Photo by Ricky Osborne.
“We can’t say what the problem is without being part of the solution.”
Student
“Chuck Henry, a renowned scientist, he came in here and was totally blown away by our black soldier flies. Remember the first day he came in: ‘Man, I’ve been trying to raise these things for years. How do you guys do it? These are crazy big numbers.’ We’ve had international scientists come in and say that what we’re doing is really authentic and ground breaking. It’s pretty awesome to be able to do that inside a prison.”
Nick Hacheney
compost program co-founder
“The thing is, I’m a beekeeper. I’ll be a beekeeper in the real world. I’ll be a beekeeper for the rest of my life.”
Chuck Roark
Journeyman Beekeeper
“It feels really good. We can give back to the community and feel good about it. Plus, we know that the younger generation is learning on computers we built.”
Computers 4 Kids
technician at Airway Heights Corrections Center
Sustainable Practices Lab leaders share insights with SPP-Evergreen’s Joslyn Rose Trivett. Photo by Ricky Osborne.
“You just can’t imagine how big of an impact working with nature and studying the environment has on people who spend most of their days inside concrete cages.”
Juan Carlos Hernandez
SPP composting technician
“There is an overwhelming satisfaction in knowing that we are contributing to our environment’s recovery.”
Susan Christopher
SPP butterfly technician
Students raise their hands during a workshop facilitated by Long Live the Kings. Photo by Ricky Osborne.
““I have left the house of scholars. Too long I have sat hungry at their table…I have not been hungry at your table.”
Roots of Success Instructor Grady Mitchell paraphrased Nietzsche to thanks his students.”
Michael Linear
Roots of Success graduate
Sustainable Practices Lab leaders share insights with SPP-Evergreen’s Joslyn Rose Trivett. Photo by Ricky Osborne.
“Never in my life—and I am 60 years old—I never in my life wanted to get up and go to work until I got this job.”
Teddy bear program founder
at Washington State Penitentiary‘s Sustainable Practices Lab, while sewing teddy bears from reclaimed fabric
