The student voice of Hutchinson Community College
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November 18, 2022
pinion
Lynn Spahr writes about listening to podcasts instead of reading. Page 2
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Students give opinions on Daylight Savings Time
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HutchCC Esports Halo Infinite team finishes their undefeated season
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Vol. 64 Issue 9
ports
One blocked punt saves HutchCC’s football season
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From stalemate to checkmate: How Tony Ballard uses chess to aid rehabilitation in prison
By Ainsley Trunkhill Staff Writer
Tony Ballard found himself in checkmate when he received a 294-month prison sentence for attempted murder. Through a project called The Gift of Chess, however, he learned how to convert his prison cell to a classroom for rehabilitation until he was the one delivering the checkmates. Ballard grew up on the north side of Tulsa, Oklahoma, born into an environment seeping with drugs and crime. His mother, wanting to provide her family with the best opportunities, moved them to Hutchinson. Here, Ballard thrived as a standout football player, ultimately playing football for HutchCC, even after having some Division I offers. Eventually, Ballard wound up back in the circle of crime by selling drugs, which culminated in a shooting, a trial, and a prison sentence. “For the first four, five, almost six years, I was very angry,” Ballard said, describing the early mental effects of prison. “I tried to take my life.” Cornered in check, Ballard began viewing his life like a chess board, contemplating each move for the future. He tracked his progress on the board with chess notation, and he tracked his progress in reality with books and journaling. “I turned my prison cell into a laboratory where I studied myself,” Ballard said. “I studied, I journaled … I became a self-analysis.” Self-help books lined Ballard’s path to self-discovery. Chess, however, more so than “Chicken Soup” or Dr. Phil contributed to the transformation. In a prison system of routine and institutionalization, chess forced Ballard to think. He practiced metacognition,
Courtesy photo/The Gift of Chess Tony Ballard uses chess to keep himself grounded while he serves his prison sentence. Ballard also takes classes online through Hutchinson Community College.
the same skill taught in public schools across the country, creating an education out of a prison sentence, even furthering this education by taking classes at HutchCC. “It teaches a person how to think. A lot of guys in prison don’t know how to think. I did not know how to think,” Ballard said. As he developed skills on the board, he applied those same skills to his own life. He corrected impulsivity with patience
and a lack of originality with creativity. Where punitive justice failed Tony Ballard, rehabilitation transformed him into someone even better. Punishment resulted in Ballard’s anger, an anger that he would have taken out on those who don’t deserve it. Rehabilitation educated him on where he went wrong. “Punitive justice is something that I’m most definitely against,” Ballard said. “Everyone wants to be better than who they currently are … give them
the opportunity to do that.” Troy Robinson, who worked in every correctional facility in Kansas over 33 years and is a current student at HutchCC, shares similar beliefs in a goal of rehabilitation and restoration. “Roughly speaking, 95% of inmates are gonna get released,” Robinson said. “We are always striving to try to have them leave us better than the way we received them.” Budget cuts and a lack of priority on rehabilitation from politicians have challenged the ability for prisons to implement rehabilitative programs. Furthermore, modern technological advances resulted in a limitation of the previous programs prisoners participated in. Inmates that learned carpentry and bricklaying as a trade were restricted by the lack of ability to train skilled laborers and replaced by machines. Despite setbacks, rehabilitative programs still exist across Kansas. In one, prisoners learn to get horses saddle-ready, building a one-on-one bond and developing both inmate and horse therapeutically. Tony Ballard hopes to implement another widespread program. “I commend him,” Robinson said. “We need creativity.” Ballard collaborated with Russel Makofsky, part of the Impact Coaching Network in New York City to create a non-profit organization, The Gift of Chess, out of his passion. While The Gift of Chess provides outreach to elementary schools, countries across the world, and elderly homes, Ballard heads the prison outreach sector as the director. His collaborations have exceeded just New York City, however; Ballard works with FIDE, the governing body of chess, with CEO’s of See Chess, Page 3
HutchCC’s ‘grandmother’ celebrates 25 years of great service By Victoria Lewis Staff Writer
Often coined as Hutchinson Community College’s grandmother, Carolyln Blackburn recently celebrated 25 years of service with Great Western Dining, of which she has served in the HutchCC cafeteria for 12 of these years. When asked what keeps her coming back year after year, her immediate answer was ‘the students’ “You find some of the kids who just really leave an impact on you - the ones that like to joke around and stuff like that,” Blackburn said. “It’s just all good memories. “You’ve got the ones who are kinda shy and you try to get them out of that shyness, but there’s so many good kids, all of you are just good kids.” She said that even with the recent renovation of the cafeteria inside Parker Student Union, “the kids basically are the same - a lot of different personalities and a lot of fun and a lot of good kids. “(They) make my day.” It would seem the feeling is mutual. Current HutchCC student and worker at the Dragon’s
Brew Cafe next to the cafeteria, Austin Baker is a Blackburn fan. “The thing I love most about Carolyln is how warm and genuine she is every time she comes to wor,” Baker said. “She makes sure to make every student who walks through feel loved. “Throughout the multiple years I’ve been here and spent with Carolyln we’ve had many conversations about our hometown. we come from the same area or at least know people in the same area so that was always really cool.” Blackburn said she enjoys meeting the different cohorts of students every year, and often gets quite close with the kids she greets every mealtime. “You know when they’re feeling bad and you know, you try to get them feeling good - make them have a good day not a bad day,” Blackburn said. “You don’t want anybody to feel bad when they come in.” Blackburn started out at Great Western Dining in Garden City as an assistant manager, and then transferred to Seward County Community College to become the supervisor, overseeing their cafeteria.
Upcoming events November 19 — HutchCC Basketball @ Cloud County November 18-20 — HutchCC Theatre presents: An Evening of One-Act Plays November 22 — HutchCC Band and Instrumental Jazz Present: Bandemonium November 23-27 — Thanksgiving Break
Photo by Lee Wellman/Collegian Carolyln Blackburn sits at her desk at the entrance to the Hutchinson Community College Cafeteria, where she sees hundreds of students every day, giving each a bright happy smile.
After this, she was based at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, when she finally transferred to HutchCC. “Here at the college, everyone is like family, all the faculty and staff are just family, and you can’t go very many places that’s like that,” she said of the HutchCC community. Brenda Roberts, the Food Service Director at HutchCC’s cafeteria, says working
with Blackburn is fun and that “she’s got an amazing attitude, her spirit is amazing and the way she connects with the students is really cool.” One fond memory Roberts has of the last nine months she’s worked with Blackburn comes from when Roberts started. “When I took over as director (and) she told me a story
The happenings around campus
College Student Weather Report Friday High: 30; Low 18 I just wanted some fall weather Saturday High: 45; Low 19 Little bit better Sunday High: 56 Low 27 The going is slow, but we’re approaching some good weather
Weather source: Accuweather
about if anybody doesn’t like what I’m doing, just tell them there’s a new sheriff in town and this is how we’re doing it,” Roberts said. Blackburn is the embodiment of the saying ‘time flies when you’re having fun.’ She has enjoyed her journey with Great Western Dining and says it has been “worth it” as she earns and celebrates her 25thyear-of-service badge.
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