East River Academy held its 18th graduation for 43 high school graduates on Tuesday who completed their education while in custody at Rikers Island.
The graduation ceremony was attended by teachers and principals, multiple generations of family members, representatives from the New York City Department of Education, officers from the Department of Corrections, and Mayor Eric Adams.
The program offers the ability for students, all incarcerated on Rikers, to earn their high school diploma, or an equivalency, while in custody as part of an effort to rebuild their lives following arrest and prosecution. Three of the 43 graduates have received their sentences, according to the Department of Corrections.
Wayne Harris, an East River Academy graduate who was celebrated for his leadership qualities, told amNewYork Metro that he was both grateful and excited to have completed his high school education
“The program is great and it was one of the best things that ever happened to me so far,” Harris said. “A lot of my family members were telling me I need to get it done. Now I finally got it done.”
Harris expressed gratitude for his teacher, Carmen Morales, who he called “more than a teacher.”
“She goes out of her way to get everything done for us,” Harris said. “I feel like she really helped me a lot, and I appreciate her.”
Social studies and science were Harris’ two favorite subjects at the East River Academy. But he’s mostly fascinated by the field of psychology and understanding how mind and human nature.
“What do I want to pursue? Well, honestly, I’m gonna keep it short, because I have a long list of things,” Harris said. “I would start by going to college and studying business psychology or psychology.”
Harris shared his plans on how he would put those academic pursuits into practice and his long-term career goals.
“I plan on having multiple businesses — being a business owner, being an investor,” Harris said. “I’ll go into real estate because I already have family members that are in real estate.”
The long journey through East River Academy wasn’t easy, high school graduate Richmond Pappoe told amNewYork Metro. Pappoe learned to advocate for himself in his classes and preserve through back-to-back tests during his education.
“Being incarcerated, I never expected to be here,” Pappoe said. “I never thought I was gonna finish school at all. But God willing, I came here. Even though this is a little minor setback, I still was able to finish school and be successful. And it doesn’t stop here. I’m gonna continue and keep going.”
Pappoe, a rapper from The Bronx, said he enjoyed his English and social studies courses the most and described some of the texts he read in class as even being entertaining. He said he had long registered it in his mind that he would finish his high school education, and shared his guidance to current students in the program.
“My advice would be to stay focused, and even though you’re here (at Rikers), don’t let it get to you,” Pappoe said. “You can still do your thing, finish school, and just stick to it.”
Offering students ‘flexibility’
East River Academy alum Jarrell Daniels, the keynote speaker at this year’s graduation, touched upon his troubled teenage years in the South Bronx and being inducted into the Bloods Street Gang while just 15 years of age.
“Unfortunately, we come from neighborhoods where the mentality most of the young men live with is a survival mindset,” Daniels said in his speech. “But the problem with living in survival mode is that it’s hard to see a future for yourself.”
Daniels, along with others, were arrested in 2012 and faced up to 10 years in prison for a gang indictment. He spent 11 months on Rikers Island, where he enrolled in East River Academy, before being transferred to Bare Hill Correctional Facility and serving the rest of his sentence at Queensboro Correctional Facility.
“My question to you all today is, What’s life going to look like for you one year after you come home from Rikers?,” Daniels asked the graduates. “How about five or 10 years from now? What’s life going to look like for you after you’ve been blessed with your second chance at freedom?”
After earning his GED from East River Academy and his subsequent release, Daniels pursued sociology and African American studies at Columbia University. He founded the Justice Ambassadors Youth Council at Columbia University’s Center for Justice in 2019, and in 2021, became a Truman Scholar at Columbia University’s School of General Studies.
“The biggest thing I learned was that a bachelor’s degree was the first step in the process,” Daniels said. “Earning a college degree was the biggest predictor towards a stable, healthy, and productive life after incarceration.”
Daniels announced then that he is applying to law school to pursue a career as a civil rights attorney and eventually run for office with the hopes of becoming a state senator. He then repeated a mantra for the students to drive his point home: “Proper preparation prevents poor performance.”
“This means you should be walking out of here prepared to take on the world,” Daniels said. “You will need a solid plan to follow as a guide. Don’t leave anything to chance. Don’t leave here with the same mentality you had when you came in. Don’t leave here without knowing what you want to do with your life.”
Glenda Esperance, superintendent of District 79 schools in the Department of Education, emphasized the importance of overseeing a non-traditional education model that supports 50,000 students across all five boroughs — including those at East River Academy.
“We definitely understand that the traditional model doesn’t work,” Esperance told amNewYork Metro. “What we offer our students is flexibility.”
Esperance pointed to the DOE’s collaboration with the DOC to present incarcerated individuals with opportunities exposing them to East River Academy.
“If they come in with an IEP (Individualized Education Program), they still receive their special education services,” Esperance said. “They get math, science, ELA (English Language Arts), social studies, enrichment courses, certification courses.”
Many of the East River Academy teachers have an average tenure of 15 years, Esperance added. Despite working in an especially challenging setting, teachers who work at Rikers Island are passionate about creating classrooms, even adopting culturally-responsive texts and materials that their students could better relate to.
“Students are seated in small groups interacting and having conversations with themes that speak about resilience, reflection, empathy,” Esperance said. “The goal is to give them as much tools as possible so when they make that transition out of incarceration, they’re ready to sustain and take care of themselves.”
Carmen Morales, the teacher whom graduate Harris had sung her praises, told amNewYork Metro that she takes her work as an educator at Rikers Island very seriously. She’s now clocked in 37 years working for District 79 — with 28 of those years teaching at East River Academy.
“Yeah, I don’t play around,” Morales said. “I want them to be the greatest that they can be.”
This means setting up her students with complex literature from authors such as French philosopher René Descartes, Harlem-born writer James Baldwin, and Italian diplomat Machiavelli. Morales also recently assigned her students a close reading of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.”
“I love this (graduating) class, because they are free thinkers,” Morales said. “Our job is to teach them not what to think, but how to think. They’re taking the chance to just think, and not have to think like everyone else. It’s beautiful. I think they’re courageous. I absolutely love it.”
To further prepare those ready for college, East River Academy works hand-in-hand with the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), said Shomar Burroughs, an assistant principal at East River Academy. Through Program Impact, BMCC students impacted by the justice system are provided with mentorship, emergency funding, and the college registration process.
“If they have a diploma from us here. they go right to BMCC and take classes there to obtain their college degree,” Burroughs told amNewYork Metro. “It’s a completely free program, which is excellent. Our counselors will work with our students and actually take them on a tour of BMCC.”
Tonya Threadgill, principal of East River Academy, told amNewYork Metro that she answered a calling to work with incarcerated youth and adults. She has now spent 28 years in different educator roles at Rikers Island from being a teacher, the assistant principal of special education, to now leading the school as principal for the past nine years.
“It’s definitely a life-changing experience, because you have to have a heart,” Threadgill said. “It’s a passion to be able to impact the lives of those who have been discarded from society and those who were kicked out of schools in the past. It’s our job to help them to thrive to see inside who they really are.”
Threadgill has now seen thousands upon thousands of graduates turn their tassels at Rikers Island. She’s seen many students pick up an interest in carpentry and the culinary arts. But it’s not just the graduates who inspire her, but also the new faces she sees at East River Academy.
“I get opportunities to meet new students every single day,” Threadgill said. “At the end of the day, it’s all about seeing them change whether they get their diploma or not. It’s like paradigm shift. They’re behind the gate, so you have to be able to help them to think differently and to see themselves differently.”
