Amanda Meneses
Special to the Mustang Daily
In high school, Michael Bower tutored his peers in math. Calculus made sense to him, he said, and he was eager to help in any way he could.
While at Cal Poly, Bower, a mathematics senior, has offered his understanding of algebra and calculus to tutor a range of students from middle school to college. But Bower wanted a different teaching experience, he said.
So, he went to the California Men’s Colony.
“Many of the students honestly have a story, and they have something to say,” Bower said. “I’m not saying it’s the story of how they got there, but just speaking to them for five to 10 minutes, you can tell they aren’t stupid.”
Bower wanted to pursue opportunities that would challenge and prepare him to be a more effective teacher in the future, he said.
“I started researching the opportunities they had there and found out they had an extensive set of classrooms devoted to get the inmates their GED,” Bower said.
He tried to find contact information for the prison online, but was not able to find it. Bower decided to mail an old-fashioned letter to the warden. Three weeks later, Bower received a phone call from Robert Green, the principal of the education department, saying he had received the letter, and was interested in interviewing Bower. Bower’s interview was a walk through of the prison and a chance to ask the principal questions about how the classes ran.
Bower began helping inside the classroom in October 2012.
Since then, Bower helped in six different classrooms whenever it has fit his own school schedule. He walks around the classroom and helps answering questions by explaining the basics. Students usually have difficulty with the prerequisite knowledge, and that’s where their question is coming from, he said.
“The opportunity to work with different people at different levels of math skills, trying to explain things, just adds to my ability to help others in the future,” Bower said.
The class Bower is aiding in is a beginning to third grade math level this quarter. Many inmates have had no formal education before or are English second-language learners. No matter their level, all of the inmates have one ultimate goal in mind: to earn their GED, Bower said.
“Regardless of where they are, or what happened before, they are wanting to do something,” Bower said. “On a day-to-day basis, their motivation may vary greatly, but it’s still great that they are working toward something and they could potentially some day have their GED.”
Inmates could be enrolled in Adult Basic Education 1 for elementary level students, level 2 for inmates at a junior high level education, or level 3 for inmates at a sophomore or junior year of high school level. All students are working toward their GED, and some even begin to pursue a college degree while in prison, Green said.
Green understood the importance of Bower receiving a completely new experience in teaching, he said. The chance to work with students who had never had formal education could be valuable for him down the road, he said.
Bower hopes to continue to volunteer at the California Men’s Colony for as long as possible, he said. Bower plans to graduate in December 2013, and then work in order to have the funds to pay for the credential program starting in September 2014, he said.
“I have been blessed with the opportunity to help out in an area that many do not normally have the chance to, thus I hope to stay connected, even if it is only one day a week, for as long as possible,” Bower said.
Balenzuela Gerardo, one of Bower’s students, dropped out of school after his sophomore year of high school. Gerardo was forced to leave school to work with his family in the fields picking peaches, he said. His goal is to earn his GED so one day he could find an easier job than the fields and to be around good people, he said in his broken English.
Darryl Sigmon, another student of Bower’s, never had formal schooling in his life, he said. He is thankful for Bower’s teaching to set him on the right track toward his GED, he said.
“He’s pretty good; he’s personable, he didn’t come with an agenda or an attitude,” Sigmon said. “He is helpful and very knowledgeable.”
Sigmon’s goal is to one day own his own business, he said.
Bower’s lessons will not only help the inmates to reach their goals, but his own goal to be an effective teacher, he said. As he prepares to be a high school math teacher, Bower has not yet learned the lesson of how to deal with disruptive students, he said.
“I’ve had experience in the prison and in public school, and the students at the Men’s Colony are way more respectful,” Bower said.