Beyond the associate degree program, WVU offers in-person educational programming at SCI Greene, including writing workshops and book clubs. We also support student-led initiatives. Students have proposed and implemented a horticulture project, a writing studio, an end-of-life advocacy program, and a peer mentoring program.
Explore our programs:
- Creative Writing Workshops
- Book Clubs
- Greene Writing Studio
- Peer-Led Programming
- Darrin Lester Scholarship
Creative Writing Workshops
HEPI hosts non-credit-bearing creative writing courses at SCI-Greene.
American fiction writer and essayist Dr. Ann Pancake teaches creative writing workshops with students each semester. Students have the opportunity to create and revise works of both fiction and nonfiction while participating in feedback cycles with their peers and receiving guidance from Dr. Pancake.
Students have self published work as a result of their participation in creative writing workshops and report an increased sense of worth and confidence after participation.
Book Clubs
In partnership with the Appalachian Prison Book Project and the West Virginia University Department of English, we offer book clubs and creative writing workshops in prisons.
Book clubs provide incarcerated individuals with an opportunity to read, discuss, and write about literature. Since 2014, approximately 75 women, 55 men, and 35 volunteers have participated in our book clubs in state and federal prisons.
"Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was by favorite book from Book Club. I was surprised by how good it was. The story was captivatingly told in a manner that allowed you to experience the protagonist’s struggles. Her awkwardness in dealing with others and her tenacity and fortitude, which were the foundational cornerstones of her character, paled only to the vivaciousness in which she took to acquiring knowledge through the two most alluring resources we have at our disposal: learning and reading. It was a really good read and an exquisite tutorial on how to build an endearing character." —Melvin
Each club includes 12 to 15 incarcerated members and 3 outside facilitators. Groups typically meet once every two weeks for two hours. Participants read fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
Learn More about the Book Clubs
Greene Writing Studio
HEPI students host a writing studio at SCI Greene to assist peers in their writing efforts.
WVU offers a teaching practicum course, WRIT 490, that prepares students to become tutors in the Greene Writing Studio. Like on-campus students who take this course, students at SCI Greene are equipped to tutor peers in developing and strengthening their writing in technical and professional styles and forms, such as cover letters, resumes, memos, and articles.
The Writing Studio in the prison, like the on-campus Writing Studio, is a resource for people at any stage in the writing process. Tutors are prepared to assist with reading comprehension and preparation for the GED, for instance. The Writing Studio also provides job training and ongoing professional development opportunities to peer tutors.
Peer-Led Programming
Students launch new programs at the prison.
Students in an Inside-Out English course proposed a peer-led mentorship program as part of a final group project. Participants in the mentorship program completed training with a facilitator from the WVU Purpose Center. Mentors reflected on personal values, strengths, motivations, goals, and leadership styles, and they learned techniques to build rapport and trust. The mentors developed an additional curriculum to teach these methods to others at Greene.
The End of Life Advocacy program emerged from a WVU Inside-Out Criminology
course. Participants completed a death doula training course that provided guidance on how to offer compassionate care to people with chronic illness
or those nearing death. Trained advocates assist people in the Medical Unit by
providing companionship and access to books, letter-writing, and art
materials.
"We envision becoming voices for those who are suffering and hope that we can help to make the end of their lives more comfortable." —Todd
Darrin Lester Scholarship
HEPI and the Appalachian Prison Book Project (APBP) co-sponsor the Darrin Lester Scholarship to justice-impacted people in West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania.
Darrin Lester, the former Reentry Coordinator for HEPI, once said, “The purpose of HEPI is not rehabilitation but transformation. We believe education is essential for that process to have any real meaning." In this spirit, HEPI and APBP sponsor the Darrin Lester Scholarship, a $3,000 scholarship that supports system-impacted people who are enrolled in undergraduate or graduate school. Darrin was among the first recipients of the scholarship in 2021.
Darrin co-founded Olive Tree, a peer education program that continues to shape the lives of people incarcerated in West Virginia. He was passionate about HEPI's mission and worked tirelessly to support his community. "As someone who has spent close to 30 years in and out of prison, I can attest that we do better when we know better. That better can only be realized through critical and analytical thought. It helps us to see the world around us through a different perspective. More importantly it allows us to see ourselves and our potential in a new light. I can’t becomes, I can.”