NORTH LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The last time Channel 13 was at Florence McClure Women's Correctional Center, we brought you a story about teachers fighting to give inmates a second chance through education.
This time, we're bringing you a story about the inmates taking a second chance on themselves.
Jubilation is everywhere at graduation ceremonies. One ceremony on Dec. 5 held extra meaning for Veronica Peterson.
I didn't have a direction, and now I do. I know exactly what I want to do, I have every step that I want to do, and I never had that before. It's empowering.
Peterson earned a certificate from the College of Southern Nevada's hospitality program, but perhaps more importantly, CSN gave her confidence.
"CSN has changed my life," Peterson said. "You know, I've been doing this a long time, and when I say 'doing this,' I mean prison–being locked up."
She said she was arrested in 2015 for stealing a car and was subsequently given an eight to 20-year sentence because of her criminal history.
It's not her first time in prison, but Peterson said it will be her last— taking CSN courses became her outlet.
I'm a firm believer that I wasn't locked up, I was saved. When you're in your classroom, you're doing your work and what you're supposed to be doing. You don't have to feel like you're in prison all the time.
"We become students when we step into a classroom, and I feel like that shift is really powerful," fellow incarcerated student Sascha Williams said.
Williams hasn't graduated yet, but she said choosing to take CSN classes has given her a future again.
"Educating myself and wanting to be better for myself is taking those steps and is exhibiting that I really do want to be a contributing member and gain the trust back of my community," Williams said.
Williams was first incarcerated in 2013,and she said she's serving a 10-year sentence for conspiracy to commit robberies with a deadly weapon.
"It makes me emotional just thinking about who I was then versus who I am now. It's a completely different woman," Williams said through tears. "From the start, I was 20 years old, and now I'm 32. Looking back at that person, I wish I could tell her to be self-aware and love yourself and not just want to fit in."
Both Williams and Peterson said their goal is to pursue paralegal studies. Williams wants to become a counselor for at-risk youth and Peterson wants to study constitutional law.
"I just find it incredibly inspiring because you can see them go from that low moment to be absolutely lifted up," Genevieve Minter said.
Minter oversees CSN's prison education program, which she believes plays a crucial role in reducing recidivism or the tendency for a convicted criminal to re-offend.
Reducing recidivism is one of the biggest challenges facing the criminal justice system in Nevada.
The Nevada Department of Corrections tracks the number of offenders who are re-incarcerated within three years of their release. The latest data available is from 2020 and it shows a 26.2% recidivism rate statewide.
There's enough data at this point on prison education programs all around the country that this is what's affecting the numbers. It's education.
It's affected Veronica Peterson, whose mom firmly believed that it's never too late for a second chance.
"I go home Friday, not tomorrow but the next Friday," she said with a big grin. "I just can't wait to live my life. I have not lived, you know? In all these years–I want to go out and live."
