Circle of Change president Karlton Daniel addresses Larch Corrections Center inmates during a graduation ceremony for the Thinking For A Change program Oct. 13.
Larch Corrections Center inmate Roger Taylor addresses graduates from the Thinking for a Change (T4C) program at the center on Oct. 13. Taylor was one of more than 60 graduates who went through the course that sought to provide a strong foundation of thought to improve the prisoners’ lives.
YACOLT — Dozens of inmates at Larch Corrections Center celebrated a graduation Oct. 13 from a program designed to help change the way they think in order to make sure that the behaviors that got them in prison would not affect them as they transition to life on the outside.
Six classes formally graduated from the Thinking For a Change (T4C) program in a ceremony hosted at the center, marking a concerted effort to help inmates take charge of their own thinking. More than 60 graduates were recognized for completing the program.
Larch Corrections Center Superintendent Lisa Oliver-Estes said that graduating from the class was a reason for celebration, mentioning that the ceremony was “a wonderful day to celebrate (their) success.
“If you’re not bragging about this to your family, you should be,” Oliver-Estes remarked.
Washington Department of Corrections Assistant Secretary of the Offender Change Division Keri Waterland was another speaker, commenting on how the course provided agency to inmates to help put them back on the right path.
“One of those things that is just the cornerstone of what we believe in is that people can change,” Waterland said. She paraphrased a George Bernard Shaw quote illustrating the difference between finding one’s way in life versus creating one’s way, emphasizing that T4C was an attempt to create lives, not simply “finding” them.
“The closer you get (to completing their sentence) the more I really want you all to focus on, who are you going to be when you get out?” Waterland remarked. “You get to create the person that you want to be.”
Of the speakers, several made mention that initially they were hesitant to embrace the course. However by the time of their graduation they were able to realize the importance of taking charge.
“I can honestly say that this class has truly been an eye-opener for myself as well as other participants,” Mario Clark, one of the speakers remarked.
Another speaker, Roger Taylor, recounted that the course provided something valuable -- the knowledge to take control of his thinking in order to make his life better.
“What is strength or might without wisdom?” Taylor remarked. “It’s like a bullet with no barrel. It’s like a ship with no rudder.”
“The question is, is how do I regain control over my life and my actions and my reactions on a daily basis?” Taylor said. “This class has taught me how profound, yet at the same time how simple that answer really is.”
