![]() Due to health protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Monday was the first in-person graduation ceremony at the prison since 2019. This was the inaugural year of the academy at the new corrections complex and the first year it was under the auspices of Salt Lake School District. Rios-Mojica was one of four student speakers - two men, two women- who addressed the audience of friends and family in the prison visitation center just inside the facility’s gates Monday morning. There are more typical disruptions to programming at the prison such as occasional COVID-19 outbreaks, technology glitches or occasions that units have been temporarily closed due following fights among inmates or assaults on corrections staff. The name of the academy will soon be changed to better reflect its new location. Some of the graduates, who had begun serving their sentences in the Draper prison complex, were among the mass relocation of incarcerated men and women to the new Utah State Correctional Facility in July 2022. Like his classmates, earning his high school diploma was not a linear path.ĬOVID-19 disrupted in-person learning at South Park Academy so many students completed packets to work toward their diplomas. Now that Rios-Mojica has completed high school, his next goal is to enroll in Salt Lake Community College in August. I decided to enroll in school when I saw the opportunity,” he said. I don’t judge but I decided I’m not going to go through what everybody does. I’m not going to be like everybody.’ I don’t compare myself. I just gave up my weakness and I said ‘No. Let’s say you try to like going up a ladder and they bring you down because they want you to be part of them, of the same group in here. “I feel a lot of people here push you down. In prison, there were many negative influences that discouraged him from taking the next step. He managed to finish junior high but there were multiple barriers to furthering his education, particularly after entering the United States, where he had a limited command of English and after being incarcerated. Raised by a single mother in Mexico, he and his brothers and sister experienced frequent moves, which meant the children attended multiple schools and often not for long. ![]() It’s a dream that came true,” said Rios-Mojica. The 25 men and 13 women were the first to graduate from South Park Academy at the new prison complex on the far western edge of Salt Lake County.Īmong them was Jose Rios-Mojica, who at age 56 realized his long-time desire to earn a high school diploma. Thirty-eight men and women incarcerated in the Utah State Correctional Facility graduated from high school Monday.
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