One dropped out of high school in the ninth grade, the other when he was in the 11th grade. But on Tuesday Chris Morris, Jr. and Robert Guillory made history as the first inmates to graduate from the Jones County Adult Detention Center’s General Equivalency Diploma (GED) program.

“We’re proud of their accomplishments,” said Jones County Sheriff Alex Hodge. “When we started this program, one of our goals was to reduce recidivism here.

“Once released, seven out of 10 inmates end up coming back here,” continued Hodge. “Like I’ve said before, our goal is not to put them back on the streets, but to put them back in the community with something better than what they came in here with. We want to give them a better chance for gainful employment and successful lives.”

The Jones County Sheriff’s Department GED program, which started in March, is offered in conjunction with the Jones County School District’s Pine Belt Education Center. Mary Jo Blackledge, Director of Adult and Community Education, assisted Hodge and Captain Staci Walls in developing the detention center’s GED program. Lindsey Blackledge, served as instructor.

“This program is funded with federal dollars; it’s not costing Jones County taxpayers anything,” explained Mary Jo Blackledge. “Our vision is to provide these students with basic skills that they can build on to live productive lives when they come back into society.”

Lindsey Blackledge, who has taught GED classes since 1991, describes Morris and Guillory as great students. He said they asked the right questions and both had a desire to learn.

“Hopefully, they will go on to community college or some other intellectual education pursuit,” he said.

Morris, an 18-year-old Moselle resident, plans to attend college. His main objective is not to make a return trip to the detention center, or any other correctional center for that matter.

“When I get out, the only reason I will come back here is to say ‘Thank you,’” he told Captain Staci Walls, who, along with Hodge, initiated the GED program at the facility. “I just want to get out, go to college, get me a good job and help my mother.”

Morris, who left school in the 11th grade to get a job to help his mom through rough times, said he wants to study auto mechanics once he leaves the detention center. “That’s something I’ve always wanted to do — fix cars,” he said. “It’s like a challenge to me, to help people the best way I can.”

Morris, who has served three and a half months for an alleged burglary offense, hopes to be released in about two and a half months. “I want to get out and do something positive with my life,” said Morris. “I want to be able to help my family a little better.”

Walls is “tickled to death” to have Morris and Guillory graduate from the program. She said she just wish others would enroll and work as hard as the two of them did. “Those who sign up have to be serious and committed,” explained Walls. “It requires some work, but if they have their minds made up, they can do it.”

Guillory, 39, a ninth grade drop-out from Houston, Texas agrees. He said a number of inmates were enrolled in the program when he started, some of whom motivated him to join the class. “When basketball came on TV, they dropped out because they wanted to watch the games,” he said. “I stayed and continued to work on my GED because there were so many people telling me I couldn’t do it.

“I wanted to show them they were wrong. I wanted to show the people, like Captain Walls, who believed in me, that I could do.”

As Walls stood by listening to Guillory’s statements, she shook her head and advised him: “You don’t have to prove anything to no one but yourself. You are somebody and once you believe that, you can move on from there.”

Guillory thanked Walls and admitted that although he didn’t lack self-esteem, he often felt a little down by negative comments people made about him. Since he didn’t have a high school education, people used that to make him feel like he would never make it in life.

“They actually made me feel like I was a nobody,” he said. “I wanted to do something about it. Some of the older inmates here told me knowledge breaks the chain of ignorance. That motivated me to enroll in the GED program.”

After only a month in the program, Guillory was ready to take the GED test. When he completed his tests, Mary Jo Blackledge asked him: “How do you think you did?”

Guillory predicted he would score a 700 on one part of the test and 590 on another part. “I couldn’t believe how close my scores were to my predictions,” said Guillory.

Mary Jo Blackledge said Guillory scored extremely high on the test. “He’s a bright young man and I think he has unlimited possibilities.”

Guillory, who’s been at the center since April on an alleged arm robbery charge, plans to take the ACT test once he is released. He then plans to enroll at Jones County Junior College and then go on to attend the University of Southern Mississippi.

“I want to major in something challenging like biology,” said Guillory. “Then I want to be able to do some kind of work to help people and give back to the community.”