THOUSAND OAKS : Father and Son in a Class All Their Own

Born into a family of educators, the last thing Doug Hedin wanted to do was become a schoolteacher.

But this month, the 26-year-old became the second Mr. Hedin in the Conejo Valley Unified School District’s roster. Doug and his father, Ron Hedin, are the only father-and-son teachers in the Thousand Oaks school system.

The younger Hedin embarked on his first year as a third-grade teacher at Park Oak Elementary School this month, while his dad started his 29th year as a science teacher at Thousand Oaks High School.

“When I was 18, I said, ‘I never want to do this,’ ” the younger Hedin said Thursday, seated uncomfortably in an elementary-size chair in his classroom. “I wanted to do something different.”

Like his dad, young Hedin toyed with the idea of becoming a farmer--then a scuba diver and a firefighter. But after working for a year at the private school where his mother was a first-grade teacher, Doug finally discovered his true calling. “I love it,” he said of teaching. “I can’t get enough.”

Although he didn’t push his son, the senior Hedin said he was pleased with his son’s decision. “It pleased me because he would be in a steady job,” he said.

District officials said they did not know the familial relation when they hired Doug this year, but were later thrilled to learn of the generational link.

“It is sort of like history repeating itself,” said Leean Nemeroff, assistant superintendent of personnel services for the school district. “It is neat to me that we have this person who did the modeling and now we are benefiting from it.”

Despite the fact that they have chosen the same profession in the same school district, the Hedins see themselves as very different teachers.

“It takes two different kinds of people,” the senior Hedin said.

The son enjoys his vibrant third-grade classroom and the banter with his young students, while the father is soft-spoken, shy, preferring the earthy environment of his science room where he teaches three courses of advanced biology.

But they share similarities in their approaches to education.

“I think we are both disciplinarians and we are both pushers,” the elder Hedin said. “We have high expectations for our students.”

But mostly, the Hedins enjoy watching their students learn. “Seeing the light bulbs go on when they understand something,” the younger Hedin said, “that is the most rewarding thing.”