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ATHENS \u2013 Our news partner KETK reports that the Henderson County Jail announced their launch of a groundbreaking educational initiative in early June to help inmates foster rehabilitation and skill development.<\/p>\nATHENS \u2013 Our news partner KETK reports that the Henderson County Jail announced their launch of a groundbreaking educational initiative in early June to help inmates foster rehabilitation and skill development.<\/p>\n
By partnering with NCIC Correctional Services, the jail has the ability to give inmates tablets \u201cequipped with a comprehensive curriculum designed to enhance personal growth, career readiness, and life skills.\u201d Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse explained that in even in just a few weeks they have seen glimpse into the future of the successes this program will bring to the inmates.<\/p>\n
KETK news had the opportunity on Wednesday morning to talk to Hillhouse and two inmates about the program and the positive impact it has on their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shorter classes we\u2019ve already had 2,234 inmates take those classes and complete them; we\u2019ve had 96 of the 130-hour re-entry program classes be completed and 66 of the GED classes be completed,\u201d Hillhouse said. <\/p>\n
Some of the courses inmates can take include health, well-being, and recovery, professional development, vital life skills, and academics and programs. <\/p>\n
Every day jail trustees, 41-year-old DuBayonne Shortridge of Malakoff and 44-year-old Richard Duncan of Athens, wake up each morning to work at the fairgrounds and after coming back to the jail they work on courses in this program with the hopes of becoming better people.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt provided an opportunity to better myself mentally and advance myself educational wise,\u201d Shortridge said. \u201cI can become a better person because of it hopefully.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duncan said that these programs keep him motivated during incarceration, not only to gain incentives, but to also grow professionally and personally. \u201cIn these programs, you have lot of quizzes, so I have learned that I am actually pretty smart,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cYou get 130 hours on your tablet for completing this program and it makes you feel good that you\u2019ve completed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
These courses like Duncan completed are what this program is all about and why Hillhouse launched the program in the first place. These courses give inmates the necessary skills so they do not end back up in jail once they are released the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically try to stop recidivist,\u201d Hillhouse said. \u201cWe see the same people over and over again and if we can get them some training, get them some education, try to get them headed on the right path maybe they can start making better choices in life and be productive citizens in society.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not only does this program offer academic courses but also family based ones such as parenting. \u201cSome of the parenting courses that they offer have made me want to be a better person and not be on the wrong side of the law when I get out,\u201d Shortridge said. \u201cThat way I can be a more positive influence for those I am responsible for raising, they don\u2019t follow in these parts of my footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hillhouse emphasized that listening to Shortridge and Duncan\u2019s experience with the courses only makes him more excited for the future of the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want it to grow, you know we\u2019ve only had it for a couple months, but I see good things coming from it and we just want to make better people,\u201d Hillhouse said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ATHENS \u2013 Our news partner KETK reports that the Henderson County Jail announced their launch of a groundbreaking educational initiative in early June to help inmates foster rehabilitation and skill development. By partnering with NCIC Correctional Services, the jail has the ability to give inmates tablets \u201cequipped with a comprehensive curriculum designed to enhance personal … Continue reading Henderson County Jail educational initiative helps foster rehabilitation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1422360,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-06-25-145940-e1750881675707-200x200.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1421992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-08 20:30:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-06-25-145940-e1750881675707-200x200.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1421992"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1422368,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421992\/revisions\/1422368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1422360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1421992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1421992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1421992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}