September 4, 2000
Baylor social work students learning
to touch hurting lives with love
___WACO--The teenage boy entered the prison meeting room looking uncomfortable, embarrassed to be there.
___His mother, wearing the same white starched uniform as the other inmates at the Texas Department of Corrections unit, greeted him and offered a hug, which he rejected.
___The boy avoided eye contact with everyone in the room.
___He quietly joined his family as they played board games and ate lunch together.
___Several hours later, his mother was among a group of women who received graduation certificates from the EQUIP program, a ministry to teach parenting skills.
___As his mother received her certificate, the formerly sullen young man rose, pumped a fist in the air and with a smile shouted, "That's my momma!"
___The scene made a profound impact on Helen Harris, director of field education for Baylor University's new graduate program in social work.
___Harris had come to the prison "Family Day" ceremony to review and celebrate the work of Baylor student Kelly Watkins, who had been the women's instructor the past seven months.
___Watkins is one of the first master of social work students enrolled at Baylor. She worked at the prison in conjunction with Buckner Baptist Benevolences.
___Harris discovered the inmates and their families were eager to influence the Baylor student's grade for her internship. One by one, they made their way to Harris to offer words of praise.
___"Thank you for sending Ms. Watkins to us," they said. "She has done a great job."
___Harris asked one woman if Watkins should receive an "A."
___The woman replied, "A-plus."
___But Harris already knew her student and the EQUIP program had been a success just by watching the women interact with their children.
___The woman whose son at first was embarrassed to be at the prison was just one example.
___The success of the program also was evident in the story of a woman Harris saw standing at the window looking for her family. They were three hours late.
___During that wait, the woman told Harris about the poor decisions that had brought her to prison and about her awareness now that her children were paying the price for her mistakes.
___"She told me about her 8-year-old and how proud she is of his love for school, his 'A' in science, his enthusiasm for learning," she recalled. "When they arrived, I rejoiced briefly with her that they had made it for the visit after all.
___"Later, when it was time to leave, I left with the families and found myself behind this 8-year-old. His shoulders were heaving with his sobs, and his grandmother was trying to comfort him and tell him not to cry. I was able to tell him about his mother's conversation with me earlier, how proud she is of him, what she knows about his grades, his love for science, his plan to finish school.
___"The change in him was profound," Harris said. "He left understanding that though they were separated by fences and barbed wire, his mother was very connected to him and what mattered to him. Kelly's work with that mother resulted in her being able to focus on the needs and strengths of her child."
___This is the kind of ministry Texas Baptists support through schools like Baylor, Harris said. "Kelly is one of many master of social work students studying, praying, preparing and joining the work of Texas Baptists where the love of Christ meets the hurt of the world."
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