UMTravels

So — those of you who keep up on this blog know about my buddy (well, one of them) who is behind bars in Montana. Got a letter when I got back and finally got down to that part of the stack this afternoon — turns out that the news folks from Great Falls were there to film a bunch of high school seniors doing a “scared straight” visit to the Crossroads Correctional Facility where Steve is locked up.

Here is a link to the video: http://www.kfbb.com/news/local/13958017.html?video=YHI&t=a

And the overview on their website:

Power High School Seniors Go To Prison
By KFBB News Team

Story Published: Jan 21, 2008 at 6:50 PM MST
Story Updated: Jan 23, 2008 at 4:59 PM MST

Teaching kids in a classroom is a completely different experience then showing them something first hand, especially when that experience is in a prison.

For the first time, Power High School’s senior government class is taking a field trip the the Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby to learn an important lesson.
Steven Atchinson is serving a 20 year sentence for negligent homicide. He killed his best friend in an accident while drinking and driving.

Atchinson says he was a good kid growing up. He stayed away from tobacco, drugs and alcohol during high school. He says his possibilities were endless, but one weekend he went to party, made a bad choice and drove under the influence.
Atchinson gets through his sentence by getting to talk to kids and trying to make a difference in their lives ever single week. He shows them what life in a prison is really like.

Every Monday the correctional center gives Montana kids a first hand experience of life in a prison. Last year some 450 kids heard stories and got tours from inmates.

And the link to him on the Montana Prison Inmate site:
http://app.mt.gov/cgi-bin/conweb/conwebLookup.cgi?docid=2002788