‘10 years of second chances’: NPC’s jail education program reaches milestone'

https://edition.hotsr.com/article/7011834775284788 by Brandson Smith

NPC’s jail education program hits milestone

• The Sentinel-Record

• 6 Jul 2025

• BRANDON SMITH

The National Park College Adult Education program is celebrating its 10-year partnership with the Garland County Detention Center, which has helped more than 2,600 inmates gain literacy skills, workforce training and high school diplomas.

Launched in 2015, the partnership between NPC, the Garland County Sheriff’s Office and the local court system began taking shape during the jail’s construction planning in 2013. Since then, according to NPC Director of Adult Education Lisa Couch, it has seen more than 2,600 participants, and 257 have earned their GED certificate.

Couch, who previously served as the detention center’s lead teacher for five years, told the NPC Board of Trustees last week the program remains personal to her. She said she saw firsthand the difference education can make in inmates’ lives.

“We offer basic workplace skill certificates, so there’s a lot of things that we do with a student,” Couch said. “Some of them are already educated, have a GED. Some of them have college degrees and have been professionals in a past life before becoming incarcerated. So we try to offer a lot of different things to teach them employability skills.”

Through the program, along with working toward a high school diploma, students can earn ServSafe and Occupational Safety and Health Administration certifications and Arkansas Workforce Alliance for Growth in the Economy workforce certificates. Literacy training, resume writing and one-onone career coaching are also offered — all at no cost to participants.

On any given day, Couch said, NPC instructors serve 60 to 70 students across two classrooms within the 400-resident facility. A second classroom was added in 2019 to accommodate growing interest.

Garland County Sheriff Mike McCormick, speaking at the June 25 NPC Board of Trustees’ meeting, called the partnership a “win-win situation.”

“That doesn’t come across very often, at least doesn’t come across my plate. The relationship between National Park College and Garland County Sheriff’s Office has been substantial. I remember the very first day, and we’re stronger today than we’ve ever been with our relationship,” McCormick said.

“We’re changing lives on a daily basis, and that’s evidenced by not only the inmates that regularly are bragging upon all the efforts that we’re making together. … We couldn’t pull this off on our own. I promise you.”

NPC’s use of secure technology allows incarcerated students to access educational content. Graduates are allowed one in-person guest at their ceremony, whereas all other visitation is conducted virtually.

Programs started at the detention center can continue after release at NPC’s main campus.

Couch said the college also works with felon-friendly employers in Garland County and surrounding areas to help connect students with job opportunities.

NPC Vice President for Workforce Bill Ritter, in a news release, called education “the most powerful tool we have to reduce recidivism and empower individuals to become successful parents, employees and contributing members of our community.

“From the very beginning, this program has been built on partnership. We’ve spent 10 years working alongside the Sheriff’s Office, the court system and passionate leaders like Capt. Belinda Cosgrove and Sheriff Mike McCormick, who have championed this mission from the start.”

NPC President Wade Derden said the program reflects NPC’s broader mission of learning and student success.

“We want every member of this community to have the best chance of success in life,” Derden said. “Our team works hard to create meaningful opportunities for individuals to engage in education at every level, and this program, the detention center program, is just an example of that commitment.”