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| Airway Heights Abuzz with Beekeeping |
| By Kay Heinrich |
| Published: 08/08/2016 |
AIRWAY HEIGHTS — Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC) has introduced honeybees to not only help the facility's gardens but to sustain a healthy bee population for AHCC and the local community.
The four bee hives arrived this summer, courtesy of Jim Miller, a master beekeeper associated with the West Plains Beekeepers Association and members of AHCC sustainability committee. The bee hives are located near the facility gardens with access to a water source, and safely out of the way of normal foot traffic. Participation in the bee program is highly competitive and increases facility safety by serving an incentive for infraction-free behavior as part of the application and screening process. The master beekeeper is facilitating a class for those interested in becoming certified bee apprentices. Completion of the course and passing of the Washington State Beekeepers Apprentice Certification will qualify a participant as an apprentice beekeeper. The goal is to include multiple groups in working together for safer communities through knowledge, education and collaboration. Over the past year, the gardens, bees, vermiculture, recycling, and providing wood for local community members in need during the winter months has been engaging and a uniting effort for staff and inmates to work toward a sustainable environment and a way to give back to the community. The sustainability projects have earned enthusiasm from staff and provided hope and education for the incarcerated population. The Washington State Department of Corrections has earned a national reputation for its efforts to make both its operations and facilities more sustainable while increasing facility safety. By being innovative and forming unique partnerships, such as the Sustainability in Prisons Project, facilities have been made safer through reduced infractions and the incarcerated population has been provided with new skill sets while being meaningfully engaged. Kay Heinrich currently serves as the Associate Superintendent at the Airway Heights Corrections Center in Spokane, Washington. She has worked with the Washington Department of Corrections for 21 years. Seventeen of those years were spent researching, designing, and implementing curriculum for treatment of chemical dependency. Previously to her work with the Washington Department of Corrections she worked in community social services as a chemical dependency clinician in Wyoming. Kay earned her PhD in Criminal Justice from Washington State University, her Masters of Arts from Whitworth University, and her Bachelors of Arts from the University of Wyoming. |
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