The fall semester is over for students across South Florida—and at Exchange for Change, it's been a particularly meaningful semester.
The program teaches writing and fosters literacy within South Florida prisons, and earlier this month, it hosted a formal graduation ceremony at Everglades Correctional Institution.
There were no caps or gowns, just the same blue uniform of every other day, but graduates were called up to a microphone to read their work to the audience of fellow inmates, guards and civilian teachers and visitors.
"It's important that we put a face on mass incarceration, and there's no better way to do that than one person at a time," said Exchange for Change founder Kathie Klarreich.
WLRN attended the event and has this audio postcard:
You can learn more about Exchange for Change projects—including the launch of a new book of stories and poetry from incarcerated authors—at exchange-for-change.org. Classes start up again in January.
