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Voices From Inside SPP Programs

This is a sampling of words heard from/written by incarcerated partners who create, improve, and study SPP programs. You may also hear from them in some of our posted videos.


“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


“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


““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. Read More

Nick Hacheney

compost program co-founder


“We can’t say what the problem is without being part of the solution.”


“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. Read More

Richard Kirkham

Workshop Series student, Roots of Success graduate, Beginner Beekeeper


“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


“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


““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

“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