A Lesson in Prison Life

Paul Karrer, a long-time elementary school teacher in Castroville, CA speaks about his relationship with a former student who was sentenced to life in prison, the on-going gang problems that continue to find a percentage of his students each year tangling with the wrong side of the law, and how these experiences have changed him and his teaching. Paul discusses his written correspondence with his student ,"Rojelio," as well as his in person visits with him at a level four, maxium secruity state prison in California. He describes their chess games through the mail, and explains his hopes and fears for this young man and his reasons for getting involved.