PHOTOS: Graduation a happy day for Oakdale inmates

Steven Paul wanted to earn his GED, but worried he wasn't smart enough to get it done.

But Paul, an inmate at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center, had a tutor who believed in him, and he reached his goal this year. On Tuesday, he celebrated by having cake with his mom, Diana Greenwald, who made the trip from Muscatine for the prison's annual GED graduation ceremony. During a speech to fellow graduates, Paul said it meant something that his family was proud of his achievement.

“It was a good feeling to make them smile instead of frown,” Paul, 37, said. “If I can do it, I know you all can do it also.”

Greenwald hopes her son's achievement will spur him to try college.

“I knew he could do it,” she said. “It shows him that his future is going to be a lot better.”

Paul, a Muscatine native serving a 10-year sentence for third-degree sex abuse, was one of 14 Oakdale prison inmates to receive GED certificates in a ceremony Tuesday; they represented the 56 inmates who earned GEDs this past year through the prison's adult education program with Kirkwood Community College.

The graduates wore black gowns and mortar boards over their prison denim. They fist bumped each other and posed for photos, and enjoyed cake after the ceremony with family and friends.

Percy Walker's mother, brother and sister made the trip from Chicago for the ceremony. They exchanged hugs after he received his certificate.

“It's the greatest,” said Walker, 36, serving a seven-year sentence for forgery. “It took me a little time to get it but I feel like I really accomplished something. I feel good today.”

Kirkwood and prison officials urged the graduates to keep going with their accomplishments and education. John Baldwin, director of the Iowa Department of Corrections, said those who work and earn a GED while in prison have a recidivism rate of 8 percent, compared to the statewide average of 34 percent.

“You've clearly accomplished something that is hugely important,” Baldwin said. “You took a huge step up on not coming back to us.”

The Kirkwood education program at Oakdale has served 308 offenders this past year with two teachers.

“We look at our students and we see potential,” Brenda Hampton, education manager, said. “You chose to be an optimist, to take what light you could, even in a dark place like prison.”

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