Madison's Story

Madison Freeman's journey with the Petey Greene Program began after she took a class about the juvenile legal system during her sophomore year at George Washington University. Eager to do and learn more, she sought ways to get involved in programming for system-impacted youth and came across the Petey Greene Program. She felt that the PGP perfectly complemented what she was learning in the classroom: “I learned more from tutoring than I probably ever could have from that class that I took.”

Madison volunteered at the Youth Services Center with Maya Angelou Academy. In her tutoring sessions, she was committed to getting to know her students beyond the reason they were system-impacted. She wanted to know what they were interested in outside of the classroom, their personal goals, and what excited them about learning. She instantly saw the importance of having these personal check-ins for fostering hope and potential in each young person.

"My biggest takeaway was how different each and every student's case was. Not in the legal sense, but in their entire experience: what they were going through before they got into the system, what they are going through in the system, and what they want their life to be like after they hopefully reenter."

Despite the vast number of factors that could have left Madison feeling disheartened about the state of the juvenile justice system, these experiences tutoring with the PGP showed her the potential for change within the carceral space.

“When you enter these spaces and see them for what they are, you realize how much can change if we focus on changing it by starting small. The teachers were incredibly zealous about their work and cared about ensuring their students achieved their educational goals. When implemented correctly, I saw how well education can work in these facilities and be a path towards the change we all want to see.”

Madison shared a fond experience she had with one of her students, who had initially been reluctant to learn and work with her. While he was originally disruptive in the classroom, Madison ultimately watched him flourish and become a model for other students.

"We were working on triangle proofs in the spring, and he did them faster than I could even check them. I went through his entire worksheet, and it was all correct. He was doing it all on his own, and then he was teaching other students how to work through them, too. I remember recalling the first day I tutored him and thinking it was just a complete 180°.”

Guided by her experience as a tutor with the PGP, Madison began her law school career and pursued a career in public defense.

"Tutoring for an entire year and seeing how much I have grown and how much I've watched the students that I've worked with grow has been a very encouraging experience. It has made my compass for my career very strong, and it's made me very sure that when you go into public service and public defense, you're doing it for something that is more than money, more than a career, or more than a label or a degree or anything like that. You're doing it for something that you actively believe in."