Seniors Visit the Big House
by Ronny Sorensen
April 15, 2009
Metal bars, shanks, and gruel;
these are a few of the many interesting things seen in the clink.
The seniors recently made their annual trip up to Lincoln for an
education-filled day in prison. After passing through several tight
security checkpoints to ensure that the children weren’t
transporting any illicit materials into the prison, students were
given an invisible stamp on their left wrist and patted down.
From there, students feasted their eyes on
all the different activities the inmates could partake in. Some of
the activities included working out in the yard as well as doing
arts and crafts. Later that day, the students had the opportunity
to converse with one of the inmates. In this conversation, students
heard the story of how one man made it to the house. Starting to
drink at the age of 13 years, he quickly spiraled down the wrong
path and started getting involved with drugs. Soon he even found
himself involved with drug and gun running in Colorado. Now he’s as
clean as a whistle and is trying to keep others from the situation
he got himself into. From prison, he is able to attend Alcoholics
Anonymous and even train dogs so that families can adopt them. “I
hope the kids took something positive from the experience or the
story they heard,” stated Mr. Dietz. “I hope they remember that
something little can lead you down the wrong path.” After visiting
with the inmate, the seniors left the premises and headed back to
the high school.
