The McCracken County Jail reached out to me about conducting a Horticulture based program at their facility for the female inmates. They wanted to provide resources to their inmates while they are incarcerated. So, each week I put on the program in their 'pre-trail' room at the jail so they would be able to participate in this program. 

The inmates loved the horticulture programs that I put on at the county jail. The Chief Deputy set in for a couple classes, and he was thrilled at their responses. They seemed engaged and interested in the topics. They also told me, the ladies were excited each Thursday for me to visit. 

My target audience is female that are currently incarcerated at the McCracken County Jail. The inmates are considered Class D, so they have nonviolent crimes. I had 16 females start the class and eight graduated the program. Several did not finish only because they were released from the jail. 

For this program I had a seven week course, where each week I would teach a different Horticulture topic. The topics were landscape, pollinators, propagating plants, pruning, gardening 101, and plant diseases/plant problems. The ladies loved learning how to plant mums, then they got to paint a plant stake for their planter. The topics I covered can help them when they get released by taking care of their landscape at home or getting a job at a local nursery. None of the ladies knew that you can take your soil test to the Extension Office before the course. They also really enjoyed learning about different types of pollinators and beneficial insects. 100% of the ladies told me they can use the information they learned from this course when they are released.