A Culture of Celebration - Sheri Lockwood

Big or small, I love celebrations - and those aha! moments.

Celebrations connect people, giving us positive shared experiences and the feeling of being part of something bigger than ourselves.  They allow us to appreciate and recognize individuals for their successes or simply for their being.  As people give and receive, celebrations provide us with opportunities for generosity and gratitude.

I recently had the opportunity to read Karen Mercer’s literature review and talk with her about the themes.  As I reflected on the theme of celebration, the aha! struck me.  I have always seen that celebration plays an important role in my work with students at the Calgary Remand Centre.  I realized that it was more than simply celebrating.  I am actually creating a culture of celebration that is integral to the work I do.

The men I work with may not have much to celebrate.  Many, with addictions, have experienced much loss as interests, jobs, homes, families and self esteem fell away from them.  Some will have done things that they couldn’t have imagined doing.  Rather than judge them, I help create conditions where they can acknowledge and accept what they have done, find ways to make things right where possible and begin rebuilding their lives whether they are looking at release or further jail time.  They need to make peace with themselves and others.  They also may not have seen much success in their lives.  Still, we need to celebrate together their successes and their being.

Holidays are often difficult times in correctional institutes.  My first celebration was Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the trimmings which we made in our cooking class.  Each person was going to say what he had to be thankful for when we had our dinner.  I was concerned that it might be too difficult for one of my students who was a quiet young man, in custody for the first time, facing serious charges and possibly long jail time.  Yet, when I spoke with him privately, he said he would be able to participate.  I was inspired as I listened to their thankful comments when we ate our much anticipated dinner.

The success of the Thanksgiving dinner seeded a tradition.  For the last seven years, we have had turkey dinners to celebrate both Thanksgiving and Christmas. As a newcomer to Corrections that first year, I invited Programs staff to join us in our celebration.  I didn’t fully realize how unusual it was for inmates and staff to sit together. The staff joined us for that first dinner and continue to do so.  Recently, one of my students said that the best thing about the Christmas season was the dinner we had together.

Another of our traditions is to mark birthdays, which can also be difficult days.  It is an opportunity to acknowledge the humanity of each person and to demonstrate caring.  Most will make their birthday public; some will keep it private.   

Whatever the celebration, we have chocolate zucchini cake which one of the men will make in our morning class.

In a restricted environment, little things can mean a lot.  With the consent and assistance of the security staff, we give bags of homemade cookies to the other inmates on our unit.  At Christmas, we do craft work which we give to agencies to give to children.  This year, we made stamped Christmas cards that inmates though out the building could request.  Cards were distributed to 175 inmates.  I appreciate the support of the security staff in allowing us to do these things for it is important for my students to share with others, to give back to the community, and to recognize one another for their work.  We have done this consistently enough that the men talk of giving back to the community when we do this work.

There are wonderful artists in my classes.  I asked if we could have a secure cabinet to display their art work in the hall.  As this is a maximum security building, there are no displays in the halls.  I was delighted when it was approved and we were given a cabinet to display their work in the hall for others to see.

I have always displayed their work in the classroom to recognize their work, to add beauty, and to create joint ownership of the room.  I fit this in amidst the other work.  This has been a busy year and I was falling behind in displaying the recent work of 2 students.  It had been on my to-do list for a long time. 

When I realized that I was creating a culture of celebration, I also realized more fully the importance of displaying the work.  It was a priority; it was not an extra task that I had created for myself. 

I quickly put up the work.  The one student is marking his journey in here through his art so he has a large collection of pictures.  When the other students saw the collection, they responded.

“This is like an art show.”

“When you have your first art show outside, we’ll all come.”

“If there is chocolate zucchini cake, we’ll know Ms. Sheri is there, too.”

The culture of celebration and of caring is in place.