Teenage inmates earn high-school diplomas:
"It was a ceremony full of contradictions: 'Pomp and Circumstance' blared from a little boom box but filled up the small room; the striped uniforms that are the trademark of many county inmates were visible underneath the gowns the graduates proudly wore; a string of handcuffs lay on the floor near a buffet table full of food to congratulate the teenagers.
Many of the students said if they'd stayed in school on the outside, they wouldn't have ended up in jail. But, by the same token, ending up in jail is the only thing that pushed them to complete their education."
"It was a ceremony full of contradictions: 'Pomp and Circumstance' blared from a little boom box but filled up the small room; the striped uniforms that are the trademark of many county inmates were visible underneath the gowns the graduates proudly wore; a string of handcuffs lay on the floor near a buffet table full of food to congratulate the teenagers.
Many of the students said if they'd stayed in school on the outside, they wouldn't have ended up in jail. But, by the same token, ending up in jail is the only thing that pushed them to complete their education."