Community

‘A huge help to us’: TRAILS assists schools with fall preparation

By Patrick Adrian
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CLAREMONT — Six inmates from the Sullivan County corrections program are lending a hand to the Claremont School District in building specialized furniture to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus in classrooms.

Inmates from the Sullivan County Transitional Re-entry and Inmate Life Skills (TRAILS) program are working with the Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center (SRVRTC) in Claremont to build, in addition to other projects, 150 protective shields for the city’s classrooms, designed to block particles emitted when teachers are working with students. Each shield comprises a wooden frame around a clear plexiglass window. There are two designs: 50 standing shields, which are about six feet in height and designed for instruction while standing; and 100 desktop shields, which allow for teachers and students to have protective separation when working in one-on-one situations.

“What they’re doing in getting us ready for the school year is a huge help to us,” said Alex Herzog, director of the Claremont SRVRTC.

This is the second year of partnership between the Claremont tech center and the TRAILS program. Last year under the training and site supervision of Claremont instructors, TRAILS inmates built a new wooden gazebo outside the Sullivan County nursing home in Unity.

Initially the tech center had targeted this year’s project to be a wooden porch and fully accessible ramp for the district’s pre-K program. While the inmates are completing the project as well, the arrival of the novel coronavirus resulted in the need for specialized classroom furnishings for the 2020-2021 school year.

Rather than purchase the shields commercially, the district is making them in-house.

“It’s a huge cost savings to the public,” Herzog said. “What we’re making is going for $800 [per unit] on the market. And we’re paying about $68 [per unit].”

“And we’re buying everything locally through LaValley Building Supply, so every dollar has been local,” said SRVRTC buildings instructor Michael Bennett.

Bennett, with some help from his father, a shop teacher at Bellows Falls Union High School in Westminster, Vermont, customized the design of the shields so that all the materials can be reused for other projects when no longer needed. Wheels were also added to the standing model so teachers can easily move them about the classroom.

The inmates are also building four safety cubicles for special needs students who need an isolated place to emotionally deescalate.

TRAILS is a 90-day treatment and transitional program for inmates whose crimes were directly related to substance use. Since its inception in 2010, TRAILS has produced a 20% reduction in the population’s recidivism rate.

Sullivan County Corrections Superintendent Dave Berry said the workforce partnership with SRVRTC provides TRAILS inmates with new work skills, a sense of direction and, perhaps most importantly, a boost of confidence.

“Getting confidence is what it’s all about,” Berry told the Eagle Times on Friday. “We are grateful for the school district’s willingness to take a chance on our inmates. Because that’s the problem with the [overall] system, that unwillingness [of employers and others] to take that chance.”

Some of the TRAILS inmates said they entered this work program with some carpentry or building experience already.

Brian Coleman, of Claremont, had a background in roofing and light carpentry prior to his arrest, and plans to return to roofing work. Coleman is slated to complete TRAILS and return home in August.

“I’d like to keep in the community and help other people,” Coleman said. “What’s hard is that people don’t want to hire felons, for obvious reasons. But in my eyes it’s what you are a felon for. It’s not that someone is a dangerous felon.”

Coleman had time during this first week of the program to work on a personal carpentry project. Coleman is building a small dog house for his chihuahua, Paco, which doubles in use as a footstool.

Dalton Rowe, of Charlestown, said that he had no carpentry skills at all before this work opportunity.

“It’s enjoyable,” Rowe said.

The inmates began the work program on Monday, July 27, and will continue until Friday, Aug. 7. The inmates have worked a regular five-day, 40-hour work week, which intends to provide a realistic work-experience.

Bennett praised the work the inmates have done in their first week.

“I’m really proud of the good work they’re doing,” Bennett said. “I would hire every one of them.”

Berry said that a few of the TRAILS inmates from last year’s work program found employment in construction and building after their graduation from TRAILS. Perhaps more importantly, none of last year’s TRAILS graduates have been rearrested to date.

The TRAILS program usually has an average of 18 inmates, with about 10 to 12 males and six to eight females, Berry said. The current number is lower because of the pandemic’s impact on the court system.

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