A program is turning the classroom “Inside- Out” at Roanoke College.
“To see that they do have the ability to go on and continue their education and to better contribute to society once their period of incarceration is over,” said Sheriff Eric Orange, Roanoke County.
Roanoke County Sheriff Eric Orange is talking about the “Inside-Out” program that launched in January.
It brings twenty students together, ten inmates from Roanoke County jail and ten students from Roanoke College to take a criminology college course together at the Roanoke County Jail.
The benefits of the program? It’s easier for Sheriff Orange to explain.
“I’m a firm believer in the benefit of being a life long learner, so I think it’s great to give them that opportunity to be able to go down the path of further education by earning college credit and I think it’s also ostentatious for students who go into a criminal justice field or to take those types of courses to be able to learn one on one with men and women who are incarcerated,” said Sheriff Eric Orange, Roanoke County.
Sheriff Orange says he hopes to continue this opportunity for years to come.
The class will graduate its first class of participants in the spring. It is one of a handful of programs in the Commonwealth.
