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The Corrections Education Program at Â鶹ÊÓƵ received $50,000 from the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma this week. The funds benefit the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Foundation Second Chance Scholarship that provides financial assistance to eligible offenders who take courses.

This donation comes the same week that 32 graduates receive certificates of achievement from Â鶹ÊÓƵ at Dick Conner Correctional Facility near Hominy. Additionally, two graduates are receiving degrees in Associate in Applied Science, Business.

The Â鶹ÊÓƵ Corrections Education Program began in 2007. The program enables faculty to teach classes to offenders who are incarcerated. Since its inception, 345 certificates of achievement and/or associate degrees have been awarded to male and female offenders at Dick Conner Correctional Facility and Turley Correctional Center. Most recently, the program is offering classes to Women in Recovery, an intensive outpatient alternative for eligible women facing long prison sentences for non-violent, drug-related offenses. Women in Recovery is operated by Family and Children’s Services and the George Kaiser Family Foundation.

Jeffrey Horvath, Â鶹ÊÓƵ Corrections Education Coordinator, said the state average for recidivism is 20 percent. But, Â鶹ÊÓƵ graduates who have gone through the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Corrections Education Program have a recidivism rate of 5 percent.

Photo: Grand Master Ronald Chambers, of The Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma, far left, donated $50,000 to the Second Chance Scholarship this week. Accepting on behalf of Â鶹ÊÓƵ are Chef Jeff Henderson, Â鶹ÊÓƵ President Leigh Goodson, and Â鶹ÊÓƵ Corrections Education Coordinator Jeffrey Horvath.