Alyssa Clark, a classroom aide who previously graduated from the horticulture program at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, displays a worm farm during the “Of Ohio Expo.” Clark said the animals consume compostable materials, like newspaper and apples, to create fertilizer. The dark liquid that drains from the farm, in bottles behind Clark, is called “worm tea” and is used to feed plants grown by the students. (Journal-Tribune photo by Kayleen Petrovia)
Alyssa Hinson dreams of one day starting a community garden in her hometown, inspired by the beautiful rose bushes her grandmother used to grow.
She hopes the garden is a place children can go not only to grow and harvest their own food, but to “reinstate their dreams and give them a purpose.”
“I want to see their faces glow and their smiles,” Hinson said.
She said some people may think it’s too big of a dream, especially because she is currently incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women.
Hinson, though, said it’s well within her reach.
Hinson is one of 20 students in a horticulture class at ORW, part of the prison’s educational program, during which students can earn a number of certificates from the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association and an arborist certification from the Ohio Division of Forestry.
In the long-term, the goal of the eight-month class is to set students up for future success, said Horticulture Instructor Emily Stahl.
She said she partners with several landscaping companies that often offer jobs to graduates of her program, as well as the City of Columbus, which actually conducts job interviews while students are still incarcerated.
In the meantime, Stahl said her hope is to offer each student a bit of “horticulture therapy.”
“This is a place they get to get away from prison,” she said.
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Stahl said she began teaching at ORW four years ago after “randomly” receiving an email seeking applicants for the job.
She owned her own company at the time, which allowed her to set a flexible schedule that accommodated for family time.
When she received another email several months later, she decided to apply to practice her job interviewing skills.
Following her interview, she was offered the position. Stahl said she “had to make a choice.”
“I just felt compelled to come here,” she said.
Still, Stahl said she felt “scared” to transition from running her own company alongside other horticulture experts to teaching in a prison.
Despite the “big change of pace,” Stahl said she quickly connected with her class and “slowed down.”
She said her students know that her door is always open, and they can talk to her about their lives beyond the greenhouse.
They connect over their families and their struggles, although Stahl said she “can’t imagine” many of the hardships her students have to go through.
The class has “grown me as a person and a parent,” said Stahl, who is pregnant with her sixth child. Her students teach her to be more empathetic and more humble, she said.
“They’re people, just like me,” Stahl said.
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The class hosted an “Of Ohio Expo” Thursday and Friday, during which each student presented about topics ranging from wildflowers to lichens to raptors, each native to Ohio.
With craft supplies and teaching materials from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, pairs of students crafted displays to present to more than 400 other inmates. Displays included papier-mâché dragonflies, models of beehives and pelts and antlers from small mammals, provided by ODNR.
“This is an opportunity to showcase what they know,” Stahl said. “They definitely take it and run with it.”
Alyssa Clark, a classroom aide who previously graduated from Stahl’s class, showed attendees a worm farm, in which the animals create fertilizer from compost like apples and newspaper.
While worms may seem a little “gross,” Clark said there is a lot to learn from them.
“I’m learning more about being self-sustaining,” she said.
Clark said she is learning plenty of other lessons from Stahl, too.
She said being incarcerated is “a small hiccup” in her life but she still gets to decide “what I want to do” afterward.
She hopes it entails a job in horticulture.
No matter what, Clark said she will use the lessons from Stahl’s class to set an example for her daughter and teach her how to live a healthy lifestyle.
“I’m not only making a career, but changing my life,” Clark said.
Alyssa Hinson, a student in the Ohio Reformatory for Women’s horticulture program, stands next to her “Wildflowers” display during the “Of Ohio Expo.” Hinson called wildflowers “the building blocks of biodiversity,” adding that they are “important, not just feminine.” Using skills learned in the class, she said she hopes to one day have a career in horticulture. (Journal-Tribune photo by Kayleen Petrovia)