Deborah Appleman's recent research has focused on teaching college-level language and literature courses for incarcerated men. In this article, she discusses using creative writing as a way to unlock creative potential, to foster students' love of language, and to offer a powerful outlet for self-expression in a class she teaches with 16 incarcerated men, ranging in age from 22 to 60. She advances the argument that there is a great need for English educators to create responsive and responsible classrooms and curricula that will engage the high school students these men once were. She believes English educators need to work harder to keep those students from being pushed out of schools into the streets and eventually to prison. She concludes that In the end, what seems most important is that it is education that humanizes us, and that these men become more human when they are learning, reading, and writing. Appleman considers that If we choose to preserve the lives of human beings who commit serious crimes, we must have some interest in helping them preserve their humanity.