Other tutors say they are surprised by the way they are able to interact with their kids.

“He seems like a normal guy,” says Michael Grunfeld `04.

The tutors say they believe that these kids are not inherently bad, but are victims of their situations.

“I see in those kids what I could be in other circumstances,” says Gregory M. Ingolia ’03. “They’re all good kids; they just made one or two mistakes.”

Janis agrees.

“In my life those choices were never presented,” she says.

Mossner says that keeping the kids from making the same mistakes when they are back in society presents the largest challenge. Education, she says, plays an important role in giving the Connelly kids other options. A number of her students have gone onto college, including one who is currently on scholarship at Bowdoin.

“Every minute of every day someone is watching them. To go from that back into the community can be a mind-blowing experience,” Mossner says.

Those responsible for watching the kids at all hours say they really get to know them well.

“It’s a good job because I like helping them, but it’s stressful,” one of the residential staffers says. “But for the ones you can help, it’s worth it.”

Garcia shares this attitude.

“I’m not saying we’re going to change the world,” she says. “But we can definitely help an individual.”

Although the Connelly Center is in Roslindale, Janis stresses that Prison Education does not necessarily benefit a group of kids that are geographically identifiable.

“We don’t have a specific community,” she says. “But these kids are coming out of the underserved communities that other programs work with.”

PBHA has run prison education programs for many years, but the Connelly Center program is fairly new, having begun less than three years ago.