Tim Wendell was a celebrated elementary school teacher in Maryland in the early 2000's.
His accolades at Freedom Elementary School in Sykesville, Md., included Teacher of the Year in 2003 and Carroll County Outstanding Teacher in 2002 and 2003. He was loved by his students and their parents.
So, naturally, he chose to leave.
Not only did Tim leave, he left to become a corrections officer at SCI Fayette.
"Since I had taught in public schools, I knew I took this job with the intentions of taking a teaching position with DOC someday," Tim said. "My mom has taught at Greene for 21 years. It seemed like something I might really like.
"Having that public school time and being a CO made it easy. It was a good balance of both of them."
With the ultimate goal of being a teacher in Pennsylvania, Tim took a job as a corrections officer to get in the system and facility. He served as a CO for 8 ½ years before the opportunity arose for him to become a teacher in the facility. Just over 2 years ago he became a teacher, and he's found even greater success.
An urban legend about Tim is that he never had a student fail the GED. Although he admitted that wasn't entirely true, reality is just as impressive.
He's had 132 students take the test, and only two didn't pass. One missed passing by just a few points, but after taking Tim's course again he succeeded. The other missed by a single point, and unfortunately had to drop Tim's class the second time due to an attendance violation in another class.
Seeing his students pass and achieve their goals are among Tim's favorite moments so far.
"A couple of my students who I had pass their GEDs and finish, they told me they made promises to their families to go and get their GEDs," Tim said. "They came to my class and they passed and put a smile on their face and tears in their eyes. They told me they never believed they could do it until they came to my class and I gave them that positive reinforcement and was that positive reinforcement and told them they can do."
His tutor, a former pupil of his, told Tim he didn't truly realize the positive impact he was having on his students.
"That meant a lot to me," he admitted. "I didn't realize that until he verbalized it and told me."
The biggest challenge for Tim is finding ways for positive reinforcement.
At the public schools he taught at, he could bring in little items to encourage the kids. Working in an SCI, however, makes him limited to what he can give them.
Ultimately positivity is his goal and why he is happy to work for DOC. As a naturally positive person, Tim said being a CO could be difficult because he couldn't use his skills and positivity as well.
Now he can be the example some inmates truly need.
"I like being a positive role model in an environment that is mostly negative," Tim said. "If I can be their one highlight of their day, and if they walk out of jail a better person, and I'm the guy that made that difference for them … I like to have that environment and set that tone in the classroom."