LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Cheers and the sounds of hands clapping echoed down the halls of the Florence McClure Women's Correctional Center on Thursday.
As names were read, women with smiles spread across their faces proudly walked across the stage as they accepted academic certificates, which they have earned through the College of Southern Nevada's prison education program.
One of those women was Karen Kincaid, who received academic certificates for the hospitality and HVAC programs. However, that's not all that she's proud of.
"I got my 1,600 hours in cosmetology. I graduated but I didn't pass the state board," Kincaid told me. "It was like a door slammed in my face and I said absolutely not. I've never failed. I've loved school all my life. When I get out and I'm released, I can go back and take the state board test."
Getting to this point was a hard road.
Kincaid grew up in Georgia and moved to Nevada with her mom when she was two years old. She says she has been in and out of prison most of her life. She is currently serving time for a fatal DUI crash, which killed her best friend who was in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
"I didn't want to live. After my friend died, I wanted to go in the ground and die. I didn't feel like living anymore," Kincaid said through tears. "Not a day goes by when I don't think about her but I turned a negative into a positive. I vowed to my best friend that no more. My past doesn't define me. It just made me work harder and strive to get my education certificate and work towards a degree."
These academic programs have been offered by CSN for about 20 years and they are in all six Clark County prisons.
"We offer different programs, depending on the prison. We have an Associate of Arts degree, an Associate Business degree, and then we have skill certificates in culinary, welding, hospitality, and HVAC," said Dr. Genevieve Minter, the CSN Prison Education Manager. "We're also getting ready to launch a construction certificate in the fall."
When the opportunity to have certain classes or curriculum comes along, CSN officials ask department chairs if any full-time or adjunct faculty would like to teach the classes.
"More often than not, when they come in here, they love it," Minter said. "We have some that are like I don't know. Let me start at a women's prison and see how I feel. We had a woman come in last term and she wanted to do that. She started at the women's prison and loved it so much that she jumped all the way to the men's maximum security [prison]. That's where she's been all fall. I think it takes a certain type of person to say yes to taking on a role like that."
That includes people like Spencer Dunwoody, who is the Lead HVAC Instructor. He said the students are engaged and want to learn as much as possible.
"They always have a lot of questions. And you know how some students won't ask follow-up questions because they're embarrassed they don't understand something? These students will let you know. Can you explain that a different way? Can you repeat that," Dunwoody told me. "They also read the textbook front to back. I remember the third week of class and they were asking me about Chapter 20 when we were on Chapter 6. I was like slow down! We'll get to it!"
Instructors become a support system for the students, almost like family.
"I don't even know how to explain it because I didn't have that growing up. If I would have had this kind of support when I was young, I wouldn't be here today," said Susan Hinton, a student who is serving time for drug trafficking. "CSN has saved my life. They put faith in me when I couldn't see it in myself."
Several students that I spoke with said Dr. Grayce James, the Lead Hospitality Instructor, has made a huge difference in their lives, showing them kindness, compassion, and helping them find their self-worth again. James has been teaching in Nevada prisons for eight years and received a standing ovation when she spoke during the ceremony.
She says being part of the prison education program has been just as rewarding for her as it has been for the students.
"I tell people all the time it's probably the most rewarding position I've ever had. But I also know that I'm operating in purpose. I'm retired military. I spent over 20 years in the hospitality industry. I now teach but this is all with purpose and assignment to just be a change agent for someone that needs changing or just needs identification of who they are," James told me. "Sometimes people just need to be told you did a good job and start from there."
It's something echoed by Minter, who added that education programs can lead to a safer culture in prisons.
"The culture in [High Desert State Prison] is students don't want to lose the privileges of being in the class so it keeps them on their best behavior, which then ripples out into the safety of the staff," Minter said. "Other inmates are more likely to listen to each other than they are to listen to a guard. We really anticipate that trend to continue increasing to really help overall with the safety inside all of the prisons."
Minter says the programs in men's prisons are growing but it's a slower process due to the fact that men make up about 90% of the prison population in Nevada. A bill that was passed during the last legislative session may also expand education options for Nevada inmates.
"We're waiting for the implementation of AB 35, which passed in 2023 for the tablets. When they have access to the tablets, they'll have more choices in what they can take because they can have online classes," Minter said. "But for now, we are strategically choosing the associative arts because it's a general degree that can go in many directions."
After the students are released from prison, Minter said they work with community partners to help the students find jobs and/or continue their education at CSN.
"We do vet our students based on what our community partners prefer. So they need to have [a sentence of] at least a year so they can finish and no more than maybe two and a half to three years so that knowledge is fresh when they get out," Minter said.
Both Minter and James said they're proud of former students going on to bigger and better things once they were released.
"I was a teacher before I was a manager and I worked with one student for about a year and she was released a couple of months ago. To even see her outside of her prison blues was just mind-blowing," Minter said. "When they get out, we tell them if you want a job, you go here. If you want to sign up for school, you go here. Financial aid is here. All I did was point and she followed through and she's getting ready to complete her associates degree. She wants to go all the way up to her masters degree."
"I was at McDonald's and I saw her and knew I knew her face and kept saying I know this person. I couldn't place it and finally asked where I know her from and she said I used to be her teacher. I said really? Once she said Smiley, I said oh yeah," James said. "I watched her go from working the drive-up window and she now manages a McDonald's."
And pretty soon, you might add Kincaid's name to that list of success stories.
"I wouldn't erase anything because I wouldn't be here today. This is my testimony but I won't be looking in the rear view mirror anymore," Kincaid said. "If I see this place again, it will be to walk in here to help somebody, not be in here with a number on my back. I want to help people. I want to give back because I'm going to succeed and I'm going to do this."