Teaching: Closing Ceremonies

This information on closing ceremonies can also be viewed on page 57-58 in the Inside-Out Instructor's Manual. Scroll down for a curated selection of closing ceremony materials.  

The closing ceremony, which is held during the next to the last class of the semester, is an opportunity for participants to celebrate the conclusion of their semester and for correctional and academic officials to recognize their achievement. This event can be as creative as the instructor and group want to make it. (For much more detail about the Closing Ceremony, see The Inside-Out Curriculum.)

The ceremony occurs in two parts. First, there is an open ceremony, in which prison and college/university administrators speak, along with the instructor and, most importantly, a representative student from the inside and one from the outside. Afterwards, in the second part of the ceremony, a final exercise is held for only the class and the instructor, during which the students achieve a sense of closure and bid each other farewell. Assuming a two-hour time frame, each portion of the ceremony would take about an hour.

Advance Preparation

Like everything else connected to teaching a class in prison, close attention to details and logistics is necessary in order to have a successful closing ceremony. The summary below is explained in detail in the checklist that is part of The Inside-Out Curriculum. We need to:
1. Secure a room in advance; we cannot always assume that the closing ceremony will take place in our regular classroom, as appropriate space may be an issue.
2. Find out in advance if the prison will allow food to be served and what needs to be in place for that to happen.
3. Create and copy the program of events.
4. Invite guests approximately six weeks in advance, request RSVPs, and remind guests the week before the ceremony.
5. Ask guests to speak, making sure they have a good sense of the reason for the ceremony, so that their remarks will be appropriate.
6. Assign students the tasks necessary to produce the class reflection booklet, giving them sufficient time to complete it.
7. Design, print, fill out, and sign all certificates, making sure to have the correct spelling of everyone’s name.
8. Assign students the tasks necessary to produce the final report, giving them sufficient time to complete it.
9. Prepare closing comments prior to the ceremony.
10. Involve the students in choosing their inside and outside student speakers ahead of time. The inside students choose a representative to speak for them, as do the outside students. They can decide what process they would like to use in choosing their speakers. Often, the easiest and most democratic approach is through a simple majority vote.

Part 1: Open Ceremony

It is important for both continuity and symbolism to conduct this ceremony in the same circle format as the class was conducted throughout the semester. Everyone – including the guest speakers, the student speakers, and the instructor – needs to keep remarks to 3-5 minutes. Background music is always a wonderful addition, as are creative expressions (poetry, art, original music, spoken word) offered by the students.

Part 2: Closed Ceremony

After the first part of the closing ceremony is over and the guests have left, the students and the instructor conduct their own closure exercise.

It is important for us to name the emotional impact of the end of the class. It is always a difficult experience. The students as individuals and the class as a whole have created bonds, and the inside and outside students will not see one another again. Bringing this reality up is a way of both helping students process their feelings and reiterating the importance of this rule. In addition, during this session, the instructor needs to remain alert to make sure that people are not exchanging contact information.

“Those tears, that laughter...you...will resonate with us for a very long time. You are imprinted on our hearts and you have already begun to reshape our lives. We don’t yet know the form that reshaping will take, and we can only guess at the indelibility of the imprint. But we do know, that when we go outside today, you will be inside us. That takes a bit of the edge from the sadness of leaving you.”

A typical closing exercise is simple yet moving. What often works well is simply to go around the circle, asking each student to answer a question like: “What will you take into your life from this experience?” The responses consistently illustrate the transformative power of this experience – on many levels – in the lives of those who have participated.

Closing Ceremony Examples

Our long-term goal is to create a digital archive of closing ceremonies. To contribute, you can email them to insideoutresource@gmail.com.