Reentry Team Attends Eastern University Event to Celebrate Partnership

From left: Staff Assistant Taneisha Spall; Deputy Secretary of Reentry Kelly Evans; Dr. Kimberlee Johnson, founder/advisor, Prison Education Program and interim dean, Palmer Theological Seminary and Palmer College; Marie DiLeonardo, regional manager, Philadelphia Petey Greene Program; and Bureau of Reentry Coordination Director Daniel McIntyre.

Deputy Secretary of Reentry Kelly Evans, Bureau of Reentry Coordination Director Daniel McIntyre, and Staff Assistant Taneisha Spall attended the opening reception of Eastern University’s Prison Education Program (PEP) “Celebrating Higher Education Behind Bars” on Jan. 29 at Eastern’s Warmer Library. “Celebrating Higher Education Behind Bars” was an art installation designed to foster community dialogue about the “college-in-prison” experience and highlight the ongoing partnership between SCI Chester and PEP. The exhibit started at the Philadelphia Ethical Society from Jan. 22-27 and then was displayed at Eastern from Jan. 29-Feb. 4.

The multimedia art installation featured original artwork and poetry by incarcerated students who were enrolled in a PEP course that studied creativity and artistic expression during the summer of 2022 at SCI Chester. This course, co-taught by Eastern University professor Stephen Welsh and Tieshka Smith, a Philadelphia-based photographer, established space for PEP students to create powerful visual art and poetry that connects them to the universal human need for self-expression. The course is a part of the associate degree program in liberal arts that 28 incarcerated students are enrolled in at Chester. The partnership between Eastern University’s PEP and the PA Department of Corrections is possible through the Second Chance Pell grant program. SCI Chester and several other state correctional institutions participate with local college/university partners to provide higher education certificate and degree programs for incarcerated individuals.