AMY SZPARA

LAPLACE – Just about everyone has been to a graduation ceremony. There all kinds of commencements, including high school, college and technical school. And now kids even graduate from kindergarten. Each ceremony celebrates accomplishment, while marking off a part of life that is over and starting a new beginning at the same time. The graduation that took place at New Wine Christian Fellowship Jan. 26 was no different. The graduates were honored for an achievement, and each faced the hope of a new beginning. Inmates from the Sherman R. Walker Correctional Center were led into the church by Sgt. Earnest Martin, their drill sergeant, and took their seats to await presentation of their certificates. Some had worked hard at completing a boot camp, while others were receiving their G.E.D. Still others had finished a 12-step program designed to prepare them for the transition from imprisonment to returning to life in their community. The programs, all authorized by St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Wayne L. Jones, were put in place to help inmates become educated and disciplined and feel that they have a second chance. According to Warden Steven T. Guidry, the men who graduated all had five or less years left on their sentences. He said the boot camp is very similar to a real military basic training, meaning that the inmates march in step, take orders and respond with hearty “yes sirs,” and they have to be able to “bounce a quarter off their beds.” At the ceremony the Rev. Johnny Magee, prison chaplain, provided the invocation, and Martin was master of ceremonies. The graduates sang for their family and friends, who filled the church. “I know I’ve been changed” were the words of the song, and they set the mood for the ceremony. Lt. Philip J. Hebert Sr. presented the certificates to the boot camp graduates, and afterwards Britton Beeland, a graduate, said a few words about his experience in boot camp. “It has taught me that there is more to life than drinking and drugs,” Beeland said. “In the future days to come we can all look back on our boot camp days as a positive experience.” Rose Simon, the prison teacher, presented the equivalency diplomas. According to Simon, parish inmates began taking the test in 1997. That first year 30 students received their GEDs. Since then 73 men have taken the test and 59 have passed. “The only time we really fail is when we stop, when we quit trying,” said Simon. “Don’t waste the mind that God has given you.” She added that there are future doctors, lawyers and pastors sitting in the parish prison. To the families, she said, “Don’t let them see that this is the end of the road. This is just a bump.” The Rev. Neil Bernard, pastor of New Wine Christian Fellowship, presented the graduates of the 12-step program with their certificates. The program, based on discipleship learning and memorization of the Bible, also teaches inmates computer skills and practical skills needed for everyday living. “A lot of times our mind is like a computer. Garbage in equals garbage out,” said Bernard. “Life away from God will bring us to the pig pen. Prison is the pig pen. The pig pen is not always a bad place, not if you come to yourself in it. Many, while in prison, come to themselves and realize that it was better in their father’s house.” Bernard told the families of the graduates the harsh statistics of prison returns in Louisiana. Seven out of 10 men who are released from prison will return. “Many don’t have a father’s house to go back to,” he said. “Many realize they must change their friends, their environment, the way they lived.” Bernard addressed the inmates and their families. “If you want to change the output, you have to change the input. If you plant corn, you get corn,” he said. “If a young man has at least one person in his life who believes in him, he’s less likely to get into deviant behaviors.” After the ceremony, the graduates had refreshments with their families and then returned to the prison.