“It’s summer break from prison college classes. Now I’ll take up GED tutoring for the ReEntry department to stay busy and help others” By Paul Stotts

This semester of prison college has come to an end. A few more credits were earned. The English Comp 2 class was enlightening, the main thing that was taught was the proper use of ; and : and , I’ve got to admit though, I very rarely if ever use colins or semicolins… but from now on I officially know their “proper” use. The class was fun. Their was a required research paper that we were given the option to choose any topic of our liking.
I chose “Animal Therapy,” which is broken down into several catagories. AAA is Animal Assisted Activities, such as playing with dogs (a family pet) or having a pet hampster…(who doesn’t love watching a hampster run on the little wheel of endless circles??? It’s the little joys like watching the lil’ guy endlessly run circles on a wheel that really mean something in life…right???)
Another animal therapy that is a bit more formal is AAT or Animal Assisted Therapy. This is where animals such as horses, dogs, cats, fish, and even dolphins are used as part of an actual therapy project with a goal in mind.
I found it very interesting that their is a medical “theory” that dolphins put out a high pitched sonar noise that is thought to heal certain mental and phisical illnesses. There are even high end therapy centers that run on this medical theory. They advertise:”Come to our therapy resort and swim with the dolphins, it will heal your depression”(you like the use of the colon there??? The college class IS paying off 🙂 The fee for dolphin therapy is upwards of $1,000 a day, so about $7,000 for a week long getaway. Is it worth the money for the healing power of the dolphine??? I don’t know, thats for you to choose, I just do the research.
My opinion is that yes, you will get healing benifits from this experence. I bet it does work!!! Going to a high end therapy retreat in a sunny part of the country surrounded by $1,000 a day luxory and swimming with the dolphines… not sure if it’s the high pitched sonar clicks of the dolphines doing the healing, but possibly the vacation in luxory??? You never know… maybe there is really something to these high pitched clicks and healing. I’m sure the therapy retreats charging $1,000 a day will swear by it!!!
As it’s now summer vacation, I’ve found a new project to take on. It’s actually something pretty huge that I am extreamly excited about. The ReEntry department got wind of my name, hearing that I’m a college student and good at math. They brought me down, gave me an interview. They invited me to join their team on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays of each week to assist with GED tutoring and other educational opportunities. Not only will I be able to help others, I will also be able to get a lot of resources that are important to a successful reentry. One thing we have going at Lansing, is there is an extreamly strong reentry team. Lansing is located right outside of Kansascity, this makes for a lot of wonderful resources for ReEntry from prison. There are dedicated staff and many classes and oportunities available. I heard of one man being helped out by reentry, and he is set up with a $6,000 scholorship to go to college when he getts out, and he’s leaving in about 2 weeks. It’s actually his voluntear spot I’ll be taking over.
Most people are only allowed to work with reentry staff about a year from release. My release shows 2028 in the computer right now, so I normally wouldn’t be qualified to work with reentry staff. But being a voluntear tutor, this opens a huge door for me.
I shared with the reentry staff that I have a pending appeal that could put me out of prison in the next year. I won a motion in district court that has a very high potential to lowering my sentence to 14 years and vacating my attempted murder charge to aggravated battery. The state of Kansas is challenging this ruling that was made by a district court judge,(Yes, the state has a right to appeal, just as a defendant has the right to appeal a sentence.) The Kansas appeals court will make a ruling. If the judges ruling is upheld, their is a high possibility I could be getting out soon. In the case that I didn’t have this wonderful oportunity to work with reentry, things could play out where I’m resentenced to release and not have time to work with reentry because my sentnce showed getting out in 2028, then changing to getting out in a matter or months. I plan to take full advantage of working with reentry with the tutoring possition. I’m really excited about this! I’ll tell you more as things move forward. Time to be on my BEST behaviour because I NEED this!!!!!

Paul Stotts
DOC #93319