by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Réal Goulet

Nickname: The "Réal" thing

Age: 56

Occupation: English teacher at La Macaza correctional institute

Salary: About $45 an hour

Bio: This sassy St-Jovite resident has been teaching cons their Ps and Qs for close to nine years now. A Baptist minister who still occasionally sidelines as a substitute preacher at various parishes in the Laurentians, Réal originally stopped preachin' full time to labour in the construction/renovation industry - work he finds near and dear to his heart. Nevertheless, when the opportunity to teach "inside" was originally presented to him, this former high school English teacher jumped at the opportunity. These days his prison English class is filled to capacity, with a long waiting list of inmates eager to develop their language skills under his tutelage.

Is the phrase "Gimme all your money or I'll blow your fucking head off" something that many of the inmates are keen to learn? Not really. "I think most of them already know how to say this."

Does he find it scary teaching "inside?" "No. Although there was a hostage taking that took place before I started working here. La Macaza is a special place, it's mostly sexual offenders and aboriginal people here, and yes, it can get rough, but not so much in my department. Sometimes I think it's easier to deal with the inmates than some of the high school students I've taught. Really, I think that in some of those schools it's tougher than the jail. They're more out of control in the high schools."

Is that because in high school you can't really condemn students to "the hole" for 14 days for neglecting to do their homework? "No, but you don't do this in prison either."

Does he ever get nervous that there is going to be a prison riot and the first person the inmates are going to want to exact revenge on is the English teacher who failed them? "No, that's not really a big concern."

Does he believe many of his students will go on to become productive members of society once they get out of jail? "Yes, I think so, there are some serious people in here."

Has he made any close friends inside? "Well yes, I suppose you develop relationships with some of the inmates, but we are supposed to be very careful about making personal friends - that's part of our training."

Has he ever been asked or tempted to make a few extra bucks by bringing contraband goods into the prison? No.

Childhood ambition: To become a teacher.

Last book read: U-Turn in the Fast Lane, by Don Heron.

Musical preferences: Beethoven, Country and Western.

A recent film he dug: LOTR: The Two Towers.

Words of wisdom: "He that dwells in the sacred place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in He will I trust."

Comments? dimwit@openface.ca