If Jessica Maloy wants to check a fact for her class, there's no just googling it.

For the past four years, the UNLV College of Education alumna, ‘16 M.Ed. Curriculum and Instruction, relied on the old-fashioned paper-and-pencil method to teach students at High Desert State Prison. Assignments are in paper packets and note-taking and grading is done by hand.

Teaching in a tech-free environment comes with limits, but Maloy’s path has been guided by a simple goal: doing work that matters.

She found it in an unexpected place, where her students are getting another shot at changing their trajectory.

Focusing on the Future Workforce

Maloy began her career in 2006 at a Title I junior high, inheriting a classroom that had cycled through substitutes. It wasn’t easy, but she stayed for 15 years.

During that time, she earned a master’s degree with a focus on post-secondary careers, driven by a growing interest in helping students find paths — including into trades.

“College isn’t for everyone, and education is also preparing students for trades and skilled labor,” she says.

Teaching Takes a Turn Post-COVID

Like many educators, Maloy's return to a post-COVID classroom was full of frustrations. She felt as if she was competing for her students’ attention — against phones, earbuds, and video games. Reaching them became harder than the material itself.

Her husband joked she should try teaching in a prison, where distractions weren’t an issue. She didn’t laugh it off.

During her interview at a state prison, Maloy was asked to help an incarcerated student with an 11th-grade English passage. When they finished, he asked if she could come back.

She did.

The job turned out to be nothing like she expected. Beyond the lack of technology, her biggest challenge has been meeting students where they are — academically and otherwise. Some read at a sixth-grade level. Some left school in ninth grade. Others are learning English or navigating disabilities.

Maloy has had to adjust, too. She’s been learning Spanish, a process she says gives her a better sense of what her students face every day.

In the classroom, her role goes beyond English. She helps students earn elective credits, write graduation speeches and, eventually, walk at Commencement.

A Diploma = Hope for a Better Future

For many of Maloy’s students, a diploma is a second shot at life. Some reconnect with their children — in some cases, even attending school at the same time — giving them added motivation to finish.

Maloy sees the impact firsthand at graduation each May.

“A mother hugged me once and told me how she had waited 40 years for her son to get a diploma,” she recalls.

She also sees it as a step toward stability, opening the door to jobs and reducing the likelihood of returning to prison.

“I feel like there’s hope.”

What lies ahead

Maloy's passion for learning continues; she's returned to higher education to pursue a doctorate in adult education. 

As she works toward that, she sees herself teaching in High Desert State Prison for the foreseeable future. Google or no Google, she’s staying put.