BY TOM WOFFORD
FOR THE OBSERVER
LEE COUNTY
The atmosphere was celebratory on Oct. 13 in Judge Steven Speakman’s courtroom as the 9th graduating class of the Lee County Detention Center’s “Ready to Work” program (RTW) got their certificates.
Ready to Work is a non-credit program that provides training in basic skills and abilities required by most businesses and industries in Alabama. The program is funded by a grant from the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development in partnership with Southern Union State Community College.
Ready to Work’s curriculum was designed by AIDT, Alabama Industrial Development Training, which is Alabama’s workforce training agency.
Pastor Skip Long, who enthusiastically led the event, is the husband of Andrea Long, who officially runs the program. Even though working with the program takes up most of their week, the Southern Union grants only funds about 15 hours per week for Andrea. Skip is Andrea’s No. 1 volunteer. Skip also serves as the minister at Mt. Olive Baptist Church.
Ready to Work consists of six weeks of classes, 2 to 3 days per week, three hours per class. After nine graduations, Skip said that around 75 people have completed the program so far, including two classes of women.
“Of course, there’s far fewer women in then detention population,” Skip said.
He also said that they are also planning an all-Spanish-speaking class that will be run by Daniel Gonzales, a minister at First Baptist Opelika.
“While this work is obviously personally fulfilling for me, it also saves the state and county a lot of money,” Skip said. “Our program has about a 10% recidivism rate. Statewide it’s about 50%.
“And we continue to journey with them,” he said. “We have a nonprofit called The Front Porch that helps them find housing, getting their lights on, transportation, things to support them doing a good job at work. We want to connect them back into this lifelong community.”
The courtroom was crowded with enthusiastic attendees of the ceremony. Many of the RTW graduates had family members and friends in the audience who cheered their accomplishment.
Dr. Christina Drew, a board-certified behavior analyst from Auburn University, was one of the class instructors this year. She attended the ceremony and reviewed the material she had covered during the course of the RTW program.
Instructor Dr. Nathaniel Dunlap Jr. of the PRF Institute gave a brief review of the financial literacy material that he taught the Ready to Work participants.
Others to speak to the graduates included Judge Speakman, district judge of Alabama’s 37th Circuit Court, Todd Shackett, president of Southern Union’s Opelika campus and Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller.
Graduates receive an “Alabama Certified Worker” certificate from AIDT and an “Alabama Career Readiness” certificate, giving them industry-recognized credentials to help them compete in the current job market. They also receive a free class at Southern Union.
The members of the ninth graduating class are Michael Austin, Jadarius Daniel, Johnathan Heard, Jacarious Holland, Eric Johnston, Rotrez Jones, Jaquez Lockhart, Kaegan Meagher, Jerryonne Patterson, Ja’Derrian Prince and Almetrice Ray.
“We give them a game plan and get them ready to do the things they need to be doing,” Skip said.