New College students use puppetry to teach job skills in prison

New College of Florida students and Dr. Tyler Fisher are using a puppetry-based workshop to help incarcerated people practice job interviews and prepare for reentry. The program, funded by a Community Impact Grant from United Arts of Central Florida, will also send inmate-made puppets on display at Hart Memorial Central Library starting in September 2026.

Why it matters: - The program targets a major barrier to reentry: interview anxiety and the confidence gap that can follow incarceration. - The workshop gives inmates a low-pressure way to practice job readiness while also turning the puppets into public art. - New College students get real-world experience by helping design and run a community program, not just observing one.

What happened: - Dr. Tyler Fisher and undergraduate students at New College of Florida are using purpose-built puppetry to teach job interview skills to incarcerated people at the Osceola County Corrections Department. - The program, "The Art of Interviewing: Voice, Vision, Vocation," is funded by a Community Impact Grant from United Arts of Central Florida. - Fisher is working with the bilingual performing arts nonprofit Open Scene. - The team recently finished puppetry workshops in English and Spanish with male and female inmates. - The current summer focus is female inmates and the reentry challenges they face.

The details: - New College students Jones Hogsed and Alicia Byrne are co-creators of the project. - Byrne, who studies English and Creative Writing, helped draft custom practice scripts for the interviews. - Byrne also created three scenario scripts for the puppets: a deliberately disastrous interview, a solid interview, and an excellent interview. - Fisher, the students, Open Scene, and co-teacher Leah Basaria designed puppets for a carceral setting. - The puppets are made from soft foam and felt. - The puppets include interchangeable appendages and facial features that inmates assemble themselves. - The puppets are anthropomorphic and use non-human colors to avoid racial connotations. - Inmates give the puppets names and job goals to build future-oriented personas. - Examples from the workshops include Sheree, aspiring Dog Kennel Owner; Pepito, Jr., Camionero; Waffles, Asphalt Foreman; Little One, Clothing Retailer; and Sir Charles Legend, Restaurateur. - During a four-week workshop series, inmates use the puppets to practice mock job interviews. - Fisher said the puppet gives users a buffer from shame, inhibition, and self-consciousness, and lets critique land on the puppet instead of the person.

Between the lines: - The project blends arts education, workforce training, and rehabilitation in a way that could be harder to dismiss as purely symbolic because it centers a practical skill: interviewing. - The puppet design suggests the team is trying to make the exercise feel safe, personal, and culturally neutral inside a correctional setting. - The public exhibition also reframes participants as creators, not just inmates, which may help shape how the community sees reentry.

What's next: - The puppets created by inmates will be exhibited at Hart Memorial Central Library beginning in September 2026. - Fisher says the exhibition is intended as a humanizing alternative to a traditional mugshot. - New College says the effort aligns with the Fulcrum Career Center’s mission to connect liberal arts learning with careers through coaching, internships, mentorship, and experiential learning. - The college also points to the program as an example of undergraduate students gaining professional experience through community partnerships.

The bottom line: - New College is using puppetry to turn interview practice into a hands-on reentry tool, and the results will soon move from the correctional facility to a public library display.