Amanda Forrester / news@whmi.com

The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office celebrated the 30th I.G.N.I.T.E. graduation at the Genesee County Jail.

Monday’s graduation also marks the final graduating class for 2024.

The mission of the Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education program is to "reverse the cycle of generational incarceration through education," the website said. "By providing inmates with valuable job training, they are equipped with skills they can use upon release to gain meaningful employment and reduce their likelihood of reoffending."

Other benefits of education programs in jails and prisons are to reduce fighting among inmates, reduce violent behavior and offer hope once they have completed their sentence.

Graduates had family and friends there to offer support as they completed their studies.

Genesee County Sheriff Christopher Swanson said along with the program being in 23% of states, I.G.N.I.T.E. is officially international with the help of the musician Shaggy

“When Shaggy came here, the entertainer, who is from Jamaica, he connected with Dr. Shane Jackson, our healthy eating instructor,” Swanson said. “Dr. Jackson was able to build that relationship, and she just came back from two different trips to launch I.G.N.I.T.E. healthy eating in the country of Jamaica, our first international partner for I.G.N.I.T.E.”

Since the beginning of the program in September of 2020, Swanson said the program has logged 259,000 hours of teaching, had 59 people graduate with GEDs and 23 with diplomas along with 3,113 inmates participating at Genesee County Jail alone.

Congressman Dan Kildee was the keynote speaker. He spoke to the graduates about the importance of learning from past mistakes and taking control of the future.

“With the right tools, you have 100% control over your future,” Kildee said. “You get to decide your future.”

Swanson said the program will be featured at the World Literacy Foundation Summit in 2025. He also previously announced that he will be going to Oxford to speak next year. Details on both events are supposed to come in the future.

For more information on I.G.N.I.T.E., visit https://www.gcsomichigan.com/ignite.