Without Mr. Ullman's help, inmates at the San Mateo County Women's Correctional Center and in the Bridges Probation day-treatment program are pretty certain their hope of landing a job after getting out of jail would be nil. Mr. Ullman teaches these inmates that they have marketable skills and how to effectively market themselves.

For 20 years, Mr. Ullman has been helping female prisoners, recovering drug addicts and the homeless learn how to conduct themselves in a job interview, how to write a resume that successfully advertises their marketable skills, and how to explain away their past. The inmates at the Women's Correctional Center state that when they come into the facility, their self-esteem is really low. Mr. Ullman helps them find the good in themselves and how to bring that out.

Mr. Ullman says it's simple. "As far as I'm concerned, they're people. If these people do not get jobs, especially jobs that give them satisfaction, the chances are that they are going to slide back into their previous behavior." He guesses that at least 1,000 people have come under his guidance.

Besides teaching resume writing and conducting mock job interviews, Mr. Ullman instructs his students on the importance of always writing "will explain" on a job application when asked if they've been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony. Many class hours are spent helping each person devise a verbal explanation that they are comfortable with and that helps a prospective employer feel sympathetic and understand that this individual is a good person.

If Mr. Ullman had his choice, he'd have the criminal labels wiped away altogether. "It is most unfortunate that we take this entire drug and alcohol scenario and make criminals out of them," he says. He wonders if some of his empathy for being judged too quickly comes from his own past as his Jewish family fled from Germany in 1936 to escape persecution and ended up in New York City. He has lived in Palo Alto since 1957 with his wife of 60 years where they raised their two children. He retired after 40 years as a mechnical engineer; spent 23 years teaching German in the Palo Alto Adult School and still does translations.

The Sequoia Adult School salutes Mr. Ullman! He is a teacher who makes a real difference in his students' lives and who ensures that Adult Education really does mean success for its students!

Above story extracted from a 3/8/2007 San Mateo County Times article
\by Rebekah Gordon