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Garrett Heyns Education Center
The Garrett Heyns Education Center (GHEC) is located within the Washington Corrections Center, a medium security correctional facility situated on a 455-acre site three miles north of the city of Shelton. The Corrections Center is located approximately 60 miles from Centralia College's main campus and houses approximately 1,700 inmates. Centralia College has participated in an interagency agreement with the Department of Corrections to provide educational services for offenders since 1975. GHEC is considered a branch campus of Centralia College.Mission Statement
The Mission of the Garrett Heyns Education Center is to develop individual student potential. The Education Center strives to provide an atmosphere that promotes discovery, development and enrichment; it provides an environment in which students may realize personal growth, enhance skills, test values and pursue options.Values
- We value teamwork.
- We affirm the dignity of all students and staff.
- We commit to the process of empowerment, growth and positive change of our students and staff.
- We believe in open communication with respect for others and full consideration of divergent points of view.
- We strive to foster critical thinking skills and self-reflection.
- We engage in learning as a life-long process.
- We value professionalism, integrity and honesty.
Program
Introduction to the Education Center
The Garrett Heyns Education Center at WCC began operation in 1965 as a contract service provided by the Shelton City School system as The Garrett Heyns High School. It set a new benchmark in meeting the educational and coping skills needed for young first offenders. This tradition was continued when, in 1972, Olympic College became the program vendor providing not only adult high school completion and vocational training, but community college academic and vocational associate degrees. At that time, contracting with colleges for these services was a new concept and WCC, again, was an innovator. The Washington State Community College’s comprehensive Mission Statement is a perfect fit for a programs providing a wide-range of services necessary to suit the varying needs of an offender population.
In 1975, Centralia College’s community college district became the program vendor and remains so. However, a drastic reduction in educational services began after 1995 when House Bill 2010 came into effect creating a number of significant changes in many offender services, including education. At its peak, Garrett Heyns employed more than 30 faculty and staff providing a very comprehensive range of community college programs. In the past few years, WCC’s role has changed. Now, as part of the Washington State male offender intake/diagnostic center, The Garrett Heyns Education Center is refocusing its efforts in a new, challenging direction.
Contracted Services for July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008
The fiscal 2008 school year represents a continued significant shift in responsibilities for the Garrett Heyns Education Center. Garrett Heyns employs a faculty and staff of 13 individuals whose primary responsibility is to test, diagnose, provide orientation and create a Personalized Education Profile (PEP) for offenders. This profile follows the offender to his parent institution and will provide information necessary for appropriate education program selection.
The Education Center shares an important role in a four-week Reception Center diagnostic process for offenders preparing them for transfer to a parent institution. Our participation in this cycle of activity consists of:
- CASAS Appraisal Testing during the second week after arrival at the Reception Center. The Ed. Center is responsible for providing information on the results of this testing to the Department of Corrections through its data collection systems. The Education Center collects information on educational background and begins the verification process for the DOC OBTS system.
- During the third week of the intake and diagnostic cycle, evaluation of offenders who have participated in CASAS appraisal testing occurs. A determination is made placing offenders in tracks for one-week orientations appropriate for their individual educational and vocational backgrounds. These orientations are tailored to the contracted educational services provided at DOC parent institutions. These tracks are: Adult Basic Education (ABE), English as a Second Language (ESL), General Educational Development testing (GED) and Vocational Assessment. The Ed. Center then creates class section rosters and enters students into the WCC callout system.
- Orientations for intake groups are provided during the fourth week of the offenders’ time at the Reception Center. These orientations collect information appropriate for each respective track which includes CASAS Pre-testing and vocational aptitude testing. Additionally, GED testing commences where it is demonstrated that there is a high probability for success for GED fast-track orientation participants. Other services such as institutional survival English, test-taking strategies, goal-planning and organizational skills are provided in various orientation tracks.
- After completion of orientation sessions, information collected is entered into the college and DOC reporting systems and the PEP is completed.
In addition to diagnostic and orientation activities, the education center provides the following services:
- Information Technology in office computer applications (ITC) classes for long-term WCC offender-workers. This has been expanded to weekend and evening classes.
- Fast track ABE/GED preparation and testing for individuals who stay at WCC beyond their initial four-week intake assignment. This service has been expanded to include services to Cedar Hall inmates including weekend and evening classes. Due to short sentence lengths for some inmates, WCC provides the only significant opportunity for GED testing during incarceration. WCC is second, only to Walla Walla, in GED testing volume.
- The DOC-standardized Partners in Parenting program is offered evenings.
The Garrett Heyns Education Center continues a tradition of providing quality programs meeting the needs of the Department, the State of Washington, Centralia College and inmates in significant ways. GHEC is proud to be part of the WCC team and provides many services for the correctional community as well as supporting the mission and initiatives of the Department of Corrections.
Five full-time faculty, two part-time faculty, two full-time instructional techs, one full-time office assistant, one part-time office assistant, one program coordinator, one program manager and one education director rounds out the Garrett Heyns team.