2025 is off to a strong start! Check it out...

Application packets for the 2025 cohort were sent to all institutions around the state just before Christmas. About 45 completed applications were returned. Our dedicated team is carefully reviewing each one. We are excited for a strong incoming freshman class.

Recently, we’ve welcomed three new adjunct professors and one returning professor to Fox Lake Correctional Institution. The returning professor talked about how good it felt to get back, and said it felt like he was coming home. The three new professors have extensive university teaching experience and commented how our students seem to be so much more engaged than many of the traditional students they teach. They cited things like their participation in the classroom discussions during lecture and the depth of their written work.

Our full-time Psychology Professor, Dr. Shanthini Baskaran, and our Security Officer, Officer Michelle Francis, traveled to Guatemala during our break between terms in February for short-term mission work with Potter’s House Guatemala, working with local children. Our students will be blessed to hear about their experiences once classes resume. 

WIEA was recently invited by Paradigm Shift, an organization focused on the incarcerated population, to attend their annual "Recipe for Change Dinner". The evening was focused around prison education within the state of Wisconsin. Representatives from Marquette, UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, MATC, The Department of Corrections, and the Ascendium Foundation were all present. The night included a time of preparing a meal together, followed by an intimate dinner and conversation. It was truly a gift to spend time collaborating with other educational institutions across the state focused on the incarcerated population. Events like this highlight WIEA's commitment to collaboration within the Department of Corrections and to increase opportunities for men to experience the life transformation that happens through education. WIEA remains a leader in the state when it comes to our program and sharing our experience with others continues to open doors for current, future, and former students. 

A special note from WIEA's Treasurer, Angie

When I think of all the individuals and churches that have given financially to WIEA, not only “generous” comes to mind, but “consistent” is the word I keep coming back to with our donors. We have donors that go back to the very beginning of the organization’s start. We have donors that give every month, every quarter, and every year. We have donors that give the same amounts each time.  

We have donors that reach out and let us know they’re still praying for the program. We thank God for the many generous and extremely consistent donors that have contributed to WIEA.

As we look to a new fiscal year coming up we are focusing on the men’s program now that we’ve been established at Fox Lake. We are in the application process for our next freshman class and are looking at potentially having the largest cohort yet. We are still working toward the goal of having a designated job in the DOC for our graduates. We are working on building up our new Executive Director and adding more supporting board members to our team. First and foremost, we ask for your prayers. Please pray for guidance and wisdom for our Executive Director and board. Please pray for the hearts and minds of our next freshman class, whoever they may be. Please pray for conversations with the DOC. Secondly, if you are able, please contribute financially to these needs. All these areas of focus include financial needs.

We have said this before, and I will add to it:  Your generous and consistent support, both prayerfully and financially, makes a tremendous difference in the lives of these men.

Specific prayer requests for 2025:

Requests:

• That we receive enough applications from the 2025 cohort to start a class of 20 men

• Thanking God for our dedicated professors and the relationships they’ve formed with the men

• For safety in travel for Dr. Baskaran and Officer Francis, and that they will make an impact for Jesus in the lives of the children they serve

• That God would open doors for WIEA to share with local churches what He has been doing in the lives and communities our men have touched