Educator with an Attitude: Diana Spinney

“A GED is an essential thing in the marketplace. You need a GED to work at McDonalds.”

So says Diana Spinney, GED instructor at Kit Carson Correctional Center (KCCC). Over the past seven years, she has educated approximately 400 inmates preparing to earn their GED. While she’s held in high esteem by the facility principal, other teachers and inmates alike, Spinney never expected to find herself in education, much less teaching in a correctional setting.

“I didn’t set out to be a teacher, I was going to be a dietician,” she says. But with marriage on the horizon and an uncertain future ahead, she needed to have a job anywhere she and her family moved. Little did Spinney know her career would soon take another unexpected turn.

“At my class reunion, I told my best friend that I had applied to teach at a correctional facility, and was pretty sure I would work there,” Spinney says. “She was shocked and tried to discourage me from working in a prison. She took me to another classmate to help talk me out of it, but he turned out to be a warden.”

Thus began Spinney’s journey as a corrections professional – a journey into uncharted territory. “I didn’t know what to expect,” she says, but she was soon met with numerous pleasant surprises.

“When I taught in the public schools; I really hated it,” she says. “The students just didn’t seem to care. And when I came to the prison, I found out they do.”

Spinney began her career at KCCC teaching a class called Adult Basic Education 1 (ABE1), moved on to teach pre-GED classes, and has served as a GED instructor for nearly eight years. The GED tests five subject areas: reading, social studies, science and writing skills and Spinney’s class helps inmates sharpen their reading, writing and math skills in preparation for the exam. Inmates must earn a certain score on the practice tests to be able to take GED. “Once they pass a test, then they’re on their way,” Spinney says.

And her impassioned approach to her work plays no small role in this process.

“She’s very dedicated to what she does and she stays after it until it gets done, just like a bulldog. She gets a hold of the students and won’t let them go. It means a lot to her to have them complete program,” says Kay Gansemer, ABE1 instructor for students who speak English as a second language at the facility.

“She’s a phenomenal teacher. She’s certainly an asset here at the facility,” says facility principal, Sherriccia Jackson.

“I look at myself as an encourager,” Spinney says. “Many of our students don’t have faith in themselves and I just feel that I’m there to direct them along the way and tell them that they can do it; It’s a matter of attitude.”

Her students are living examples of the dynamic impact she makes.

“Mrs. Spinney is an excellent teacher. She makes the learning process easy for us,” says one of her students. “I originally felt nervous going into the process of earning my GED,” says another student. “But Mrs. Spinney’s encouragement helped to boost my confidence, and now I feel like my goals are so much more attainable.” Although Spinney has been highly acclaimed by many other students who earned their GED under her instruction, she maintains a humble disposition. “They thank me but I didn’t do it; they did. It is very rewarding to me,” she says.

Now a seasoned educator, Spinney doesn’t see an end to her career anywhere in sight. “I’m going to hang in as long as I can navigate the halls,” she says, without hesitation. And for the duration of her time in education, she’ll undoubtedly continue to impress upon the minds of her inmates the same lesson she’s taught them for years: “Once you have your GED, no one can ever take that away from you.”