TEACHER FINDS REWARDS USING HER SKILLS BEHIND BARS.

Byline: SUE DOYLE Staff Writer

SAUGUS -- Her students have been convicted of crimes, kicked out of school and often favor street smarts to academics.

She's led physical education classes to lifers in women's prison and taught algebra to 14-year-olds in juvenile detention camps.

For nearly 25 years, Pat Kerschner has taught to populations serving time behind bars.

Today she works at Camp Scott, a county lockup for teens, teaching basic math and coaching sports to the girls sent to live there by the Juvenile Courts.

``You have to change their thinking,'' she said. ``They think they can't achieve.''

She fell into the work after college and looking for a teaching position. Openings in the prison system were plentiful. She got her start at the California State Institution for Women in Chino where she physically trained low-risk inmates to help fight fires.

Although it was a selective process choosing women for the fire program, it didn't necessarily mean they were physically fit. Many weren't. But it was her job to get them there.

``You have overweight women, and some who had been on drugs,'' she said. ``And I had to get them into shape in a short time.''

After 15 years at the prison, Kerschner headed to Sylmar where she worked at the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall teaching physical education and math to boys and girls. She was employed there for six years before coming to Camp Scott in 2002.

She's one of seven teachers at the school that's overseen by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Classes have a maximum of 17 students. School is required for all the teens there, unless they've already graduated from high school. Those with diplomas work on crews, such as ground maintenance.

Her days there lately have been filled with preparing students for the high school exit exam, where algebra plays a significant role. But by the time the teens have reached the school, many have large gaps missing in their education, and she has to make up for lost time.

``Some of them just stayed at home doing whatever, and some went to school but you never know what sticks with them,'' she said.

Principal Addie Stokes says Kerschner's search for alternative teaching methods makes her stand out among others. She sees Kerschner attending workshops and trying out different strategies with students to help them succeed.

``Students have told me personally that she's able to explain the work to them, where in the past they thought it would be so difficult that they wouldn't pass'' she said.

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com

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(color) Pat Kerschner teaches math to girls and coaches some athletics at Camp Scott, a teen juvenile detention center in Saugus.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer