'We are almost home:' 9 inmates from Pueblo's Youth Offender System earn associate degrees

Jul. 18—When Demitrius Herron arrived at the Youthful Offender System nearly six years ago, he was determined to take his time behind bars working toward a degree only to be told there was no chance he could do that due to program cuts.

On Wednesday, Herron was among nine students from the youth prison and the LaVista women's prison who received associates degrees — the first graduating class in the state thanks to the new Second Chance Pell Grant program.

The Second Chance program allows incarcerated individuals to receive federal funding for higher education classes offered by local colleges and universities.

In this case, Trinidad State College expanded its prison-based offerings to help make the dream come true.

Herron jumped at the chance to take college classes after being at Pueblo's youth prison nearly five years. He owed it all, he said during his commencement speech, to a "scruffy haired woman with a maniacal look in her eye," who told him about the program.

That woman, Leigh Burrows, a DOC teacher, "is one of the most dedicated people I've ever met," he said. Burrows later told him, "Darn you Demetrius, you brought a tear to my eye."

Burrows said she envisioned such a program that would give inmates a second chance since her first day working as a teacher in the Limon prison 22 years ago.

Among the DOC officials on hand to congratulate the students was Dean Williams, executive director, who said he believes any form of advanced education, "is the most promising thing we can do with people who are with us because it advances their chances of success when they are no longer with us."

Williams admitted as a 14-year-old he was put on probation after he and some friends were caught for underage drinking.

"Yes, I was a juvenile delinquent. I can see I already have some street cred with some of these YOS guys," Williams said with a laugh.

"The problem with making a mistake is that you think it defines who you are going to be or what you are about. I lived with that thinking I've screwed up my life but now I stand before you the most unlikely director in the country," Williams said.

Williams said the crime that landed the graduates in jail can be a motivator.

"Sometimes the mistakes somehow do something to change us in some ways," he said.

In Williams case, he went on to work as a counselor and later oversee juvenile detention facilities.

"Getting this degree today is a big damn deal. It is a step on the road to redemption," Williams said. "Hold you head up — you are setting a different course."

Graduate Ruben Martinez said he wants to pursue a degree in psychology and would like to be a behavior analyst when he gets done with his studies.

"When we get out it helps a lot that our prerequisite courses are already done," Martinez said.

For Herron, who is now taking classes through Colorado State University Pueblo and plans to continue in sociology or psychology when he is released in December, he made some discoveries.

He said he discovered he is "a writer, I love to draw, sing and dance and I am most proud to stand up and tell the world we made it."

"I am the first one out of my mom, dad and grandparents to graduate. It didn't go to waste. We are almost home."

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.