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Phat Boi, a student inmate at the Horizon Academy, a school on Rikers Island

NEW YORK, NY March 04, 2006 —Rikers Island is infamous for its jail. But with 11,000 inmates waiting weeks or months for their court appearances, the facility also has to provide its younger residents with a school. The Horizon Academy is open to inmates between the ages of 19 and 21 who want to continue their high school education or get a GED.

A handful of these young inmates recently participated in a book project conducted by the Student Press Initiative at Teachers College. Yesterday, they read from their works before their fellow classmates on Rikers Island. WNYC's Beth Fertig was there and produced this report.

The voices of Rikers Island inmates Jermaine C., Phat Boi and Biggz. They are among 9 student inmates who contributed to the new book "Killing the Sky - Oral Histories from Horizon Academy, Rikers Island." It's the second annual project at Rikers published by the Student Press Initiative at Teachers College - Columbia University. This report was produced by WNYC's Beth Fertig with engineer Rob Christianson.