East Lyme — The nine women inmates chosen for the first Braille class offered at the Janet S. York Correctional Institution cursed at times, their teacher said, as they tried to master the system of raised dots that allows those who can't see well, or at all, to take in words and graphics.

Nancy Mothersele from the state Bureau of Education and Services for the Blind, said she also heard the students tearing up sheets of Braille paper in frustration.

Then, it clicked, literally, as the women learned to transcribe printed words into Braille using a traditional Perkins Brailler, which looks like a typewriter but has only six keys.

On Wednesday, the group received certificates from the Library of Congress during a ceremony in the prison's visiting room. It's an accomplishment that enables them to transcribe products for visually impaired children and adults, and if they choose, to start their own home-based business when they are released from prison.

Inmate Michely Rivera said she thought of failure as she struggled to transcribe every page of a required 35-page manuscript. She, and nine out of the 10 inmates who started the course back in 2018, kept going.

"We now have a career, a meaningful purpose, and more importantly, a second chance at life, in and out of prison," said Rivera, 38, a mother of two who is serving a nine-year sentence for selling narcotics.

Rivera expects to be released in a year or two, but some of her Braille classmates will be doing the work from inside the prison for years to come.

One of the smiling inmates in a cobalt blue graduation gown Wednesday was Beth Ann Carpenter, who is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in the 1994 murder-for-hire of Anson "Buzz" Clinton in East Lyme. Another class member with ties to southeastern Connecticut is Tracy Shumaker, who is serving 25 years in prison for shooting her husband, who she said was abusive, in his sleep in their Colchester home in 2007. 

Other graduates are Fidarije Nieva, Lashanda Gregory, Beverly Martin, Amanda McGuire, Elisa Ortega and June Seger.

Having gained their Braille literacy certificates, the women will move on to learning the Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics. They'll eventually produce textbooks and graphics for Connecticut students who are blind or visually impaired in grades kindergarten to 12.

Ten more trainees now are learning Braille.

The prison Braille program is a partnership between the American Printing House for the Blind, Department of Correction and the state Department of Rehabilitation Services' Bureau of Education and Services for the Blind. The J. Walton Bissell Foundation of West Hartford awarded APH a $26,000 grant to buy computers and other equipment needed to launch the program, including a Perkins Braille embosser, translation software and Braille paper. The Bissell company subsequently awarded another $20,000 to support the program.

Most Braille is produced from inside prisons, according to James Gaglione, director of correctional enterprises. A Braille program has operated out of the Cheshire Correctional Institution, a Connecticut prison for men, since 1996.

"This partnership enables us to get these women certified into Braille and sell it to the (Bureau of Education and Services for the blind)," Gaglione said. "A lot of folks come out of these programs and work for themselves."

Gaglione, who oversees other Connecticut prison enterprises, such as furniture making and producing signs for the state Department of Transportation, said the only money transferred out of the general fund for enterprise programs is for employee benefits.

"If we can remain financially viable, and get the women recognized credentials, it's a win-win," he said.   

Jayma Hawkins, director of the National Prison Braille program for the American Printing House, traveled from Louisville, Ky. She said there are 43 prison Braille programs in 28 states, some of them operating out of closets, and that there's something about Braille that's healing.

"It's the same conversation everywhere I go," Hawkins said. "They say, 'I sat in a cell for 20 years, but when I touched my first dot of Braille, it healed me.'"

Upon release, some inmates will have the opportunity to travel to Louisville to participate in the American Printing House's apprentice program, Hawkins said. The women will learn the latest skills during the four- to six-month apprenticeship and return home with a computer, licensed business and tax documents needed to start their own business.

Department of Correction Commissioner Rollin Cook thanked the correctional staff and other collaborators who made the program possible, saying, "The collaboration in our community is incredible."

York Warden Sharonda Carlos also spoke to the assembly before the inmates joined their family members for refreshments.

"Enjoy the day, but remember with accomplishment comes responsibility," Carlos said. "Don't just put your certificate on the shelf. Use it and help others."

k.florin@theday.com