Santa Cruz Jail Inmate Inducted Into National Adult Honor Society

Editor's Note: This is the first part of a series on education in Santa Cruz County jails.

Miguel Flores, 42, was inducted into the National Adult Honor Society earlier this month. Yet, falling outside of the image many may hold of an honor student, he is also an inmate at the Santa Cruz County Main Jail.

On July 11, Flores’ instructor Pat Zonka nominated Flores for his dilligent work with the Life Skills program offered through the Santa Cruz County Office of Education at the Main Jail at 249 Water Street. Only a few students from the National Adult School program, which offers mostly night time classes for prisoners, are placed into the prestigious honor society each year.

At the Main Jail, inmates voluntarily enroll in classes while incarcerated, opting out of the lessons at any time. “They’re there because they want to be there,” said Shea Johnson, a Lieutenant at the Santa Cruz Cruz County Jail.

The multitude of courses range from Algebra to problem management. Flores elected to enroll in the “Life Skills” course offerd, which prepares students for day-to-day life once they are outside of jail walls. He has been taking the course since shortly after arriving on January 23 of this year.

He has been learning how to balance a check book, complete a job application, and piece together a resume–skills Lieutenant Jeremy Verinsky says inmates often lack before they entered the prison system.

The Jail offers these classes “to our inmates to better prepare them for transition out of custody, give them the skills needed to be successful in society and reduce recidivism,” wrote Lt. Verinsky.

Flores is scheduled to leave the system on September 21, and due to his education, there is less of a chance he will return.

“These kinds of programs are extremely important and critical to post-prison and post-jail success,” said Craig Hanley, a UC Santa Cruz psychology professor and advocate for jail reform.