C&P

Cindy Borden and Penny Richardson

IIP Evaluation

Consultation

Training & Staff Development

  * * * * * *

Rates            

Contact Us

Testimonials

Northstar Projects

Home

Other links:

Correctional Education Association

National Institute of Corrections

Jennifer Sohn, Trainer, Speaker, Coach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who is Northstar Correctional Education Services?

OUR BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP

Cindy and Penny have been successful instructors and administrators for 48 collective years.  They each moved from public schools to corrections where they impacted the lives of thousands of inmate students. 

For over 10 years as colleagues in the Idaho Department of Correction they worked together on multiple projects where they recognized they could achieve more as a team than individually.  They launched Northstar Correctional Education Services in 2004 to assist schools in realizing their highest potential. 

Cindy and Penny are an effective team because they:

  • Approach persistent problems with a can-do attitude, blending both linear and conceptual solutions
  • Identify challenges and immediately troubleshoot solutions with speed, creativity and practicality
  • Combine Penny’s organization and technical skills with Cindy’s creative and analytical abilities
  • Believe that the more people own a process, the more change is possible

Recently Northstar:

  • received an invitation to the White House to advise the Obama administration regarding correctional education policies and practices (2009)
  • toured prisons in Switzerland seeking both collaboration and information regarding the vast differences between U.S. and European incarceration rates
  • authored one of seven correctional education white papers for John Jay College Reentry Institute, New York City and participated in national reentry round table
  • completed a comprehensive recommendations report for California Prison Health Care Receivership including curricular, technology, infrastructure, and personnel requirements for schools in seven new prisons designed for medically and mentally handicapped offenders
  • conducted a comprehensive assessment of Maryland's correctional education programs, commissioned by a governor-directed statewide agency transfer
  • conducted national randomized research regarding the impact of postsecondary education on offenders
In 2004, Cindy and Penny returned from a year bicycling 15 countries in Europe from Scotland to Italy with a renewed passion for correctional education and are eager to assist your school in the quest for excellence.

INDIVIDUAL PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

Penny Penny Richardson

Penny has 21 years experience in both public and correctional education where she developed the Business Education/Technology program and coordinated statewide distance learning. As an administrator of Outreach Programs throughout Idaho’s prison system, she supervised instructors and managed budgets.  Penny’s work on distance learning earned her the respect of educators nationwide when presented at the Correctional Education Association’s forum in 2001.  Her colleagues praise her ability to maintain morale and productivity by hiring the best people available and coaching non-productive personnel to success.  Penny earned a Masters in Education Technology and has an extensive background in both female and male prisons, developing new programs and managing federal grants.  Penny received the Idaho Correctional Education Association’s Cutting Edge Award for Excellence, and a Proficiency Award in recognition for developing and delivering parity programs between men and women.  

Cindy Cindy Borden

After 11 years as a public high school English teacher, Cindy moved into Idaho’s correctional education where she taught a variety of disciplines.  She created and managed a successful evening school staffed entirely by civilian volunteers.  From there she earned her Masters in Education Administration and became principal of four prison schools in southwest Idaho. 

Her colleagues and subordinates value her ability to manage complicated personnel matters with straightforward professionalism, balancing compassion with compliance.

 Cindy earned a reputation nationally for designing innovative and effective programming for offenders with a particular aptitude for streamlining processes.  Her background in journalism and art make her a creative problem solver and detailed observer.  Cindy served as presidential assistant for the State Directors of Correctional Education in Washington, D.C. and President of the Idaho Coalition for Adult Literacy addressing Idaho’s legislature on literacy issues 1999-2002.