Some Kenosha Correctional Center inmates now have new labels for themselves — authors.

Their written works are featured in the Kenosha Literacy Council’s 2009 “Student Anthology.”

The council marked the achievement with pizza and an hourlong celebration last week at the minimum security facility at 6353 14th Ave. The event recognized the men’s achievements and the Carthage College education students from Associate Professor Prisca Moore’s class who assisted them as one-on-one tutors.

It showcased the written work of inmates who participated in the council’s new weekly literacy program at the center, as 12 of the men took turns reading their essays to the gathering of fellow inmates, tutors, teachers and guests.

After reading his essay “Beauty,” Brian Rios thanked the council for providing the program and thanked his tutors, Kelly Munger and Nick Onions.

Munger, a Carthage sophomore, said later she was a anxious at first, having never been inside a jail before.

She said Onions helped ease her into the tutoring role. But she also got help from Rios and others she helped tutor.

“My inmates are really cool guys. They were nice and very intelligent,” she said. “That gave me some ease because I didn’t know what to expect since this class is for exceptional learners. So, it helped that they knew a lot already.

“I have a better understanding of the jail culture now, what goes on. I realize now they’re people, too. They’re here for crimes they committed, and they don’t want to be here any longer than they need to be.”

Carthage student Mike Oratowski, who helped tutor Daniel “Danny” Aguilar, said it wasn’t the scary experience he’d expected.

“I thought it was actually a pretty fun experience,” he said. “It was an enjoyable time.”

Aguilar’s essay, “Prison Life & Beyond,” which alludes to the 15 years he has spent behind bars, articulates the need for reform and self-improvement opportunities for inmates in order to reduce recidivism.

It argues for changing attitudes of “the majority of the correctional staff and those in society looking in (who) prejudge us because of the misconceptions they learn through one-sided reporting by the media.”

He graduated from high school before entering the system but tested at a college level on an assessment designed by the council and the correctional center.

Before participating in the literacy program, Aguilar said he never wrote anything like his essay in the anthology. Asked whether he planned to pursue writing after his release, Aguilar smiled.

“I don’t know,” he said. “It just comes out. I have a lot of things to say.”

Literacy Council Program Director Cheryl Hernandez said a grant from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside helped launch the program.

“We found a lot of inmates were interested in writing,” Hernandez said.

Moore, who has had Carthage students work through the council in the past, heard about the plan and got on board. Her students developed individual lesson plans for the inmates.

Said teacher Dorothy Jansen: “We never leave here every week without them telling us, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ I don’t think anyone has ever asked them to write before.”

Correctional Center Superintendent Ann Krueger said the first-time program was a welcome addition.

“It’s been a positive experience for us. They’re going to do another cycle after the new year, and we’ve already got a lot of inmates signed up.

“That’s what’s really exciting about it: They’re thinking about going to school or getting a job when they get released,” Kreuger said.