Inmates participating in corrections education programs at Eastern Oregon and Two Rivers correctional institutions (EOCI and TRCI) will be brought into the 21st century thank to a $10,000 Wildhorse Foundation grant that will allow the program to purchase technology equipment for classrooms at both locations.
Blue Mountain Community College facilitates inmate education programs at EOCI in Pendleton and TRCI in Umatilla, as well as Powder River Correctional Institution in Baker City. Many inmates have the opportunity to earn their General Education Degrees through the program. BMCC operates 34 classes per quarter at these two institutions, and has 27 staff members connected to corrections education.
The $10,000 Wildhorse Foundation grant will allow BMCC to purchase two classrooms’ worth of technology equipment to place on wheeled carts at EOCI and TRCI so that the equipment can be transported between classrooms at both locations. Equipment will include laptops, projectors, and document cameras. Around 800 students at the two institutions will be impacted by this new equipment.
“We are very thankful to the Wildhorse Foundation for helping to support our educational program at each of our institutions,” said John Thomas, BMCC’s Associate Vice President for Corrections Education. “These programs really show these men that they can value their education and can accomplish good things.”
Thomas said that program teachers Jason Villers and Brian Bradley were instrumental in developing the grant, and praised their work.
