Los Angeles Mission College
13356 Eldridge Avenue • Sylmar, CA 91342 • 818.364.7600

NEWS RELEASE                                        

August 26, 2004

Programs Allows Professionals to Sample Teaching Careers

By Eduardo Pardo

SYLMAR – In a play on the old saying, "Those who can, do…and they teach." That will soon apply to two professionals who will spend the fall semester as teaching interns under the tutelage of Mission College instructors David Jordan and Myriam Mekelburg. It’s made possible by Project MATCH, a Los Angeles Community College District program designed to train interns interested in teaching at the community college level. Jordan’s intern is Jonathan Jackman (at right, in photo with Jordan), a private attorney specializing in intellectual property law. As part of his legal duties, Jackman has conducted seminars about certain aspects of the law for the employees of corporate clients. "I really enjoy doing that, particularly the interaction with people who are trying to understand the law," he said. Those experiences got Jackman to thinking about a career that would combine the practice of law with the teaching of it. When he heard about the MATCH program, he signed up right away. Jackman will assist in Jordan’s Introduction to Law class. Jordan knows that the MATCH program works. A previous intern of his now heads the paralegal program at West Los Angeles College and a second former intern now teaches one of Mission College’s on-line paralegal classes.

Mekelburg's intern, Joy Lewis, is a licensed clinical social worker who coordinates a program for children with special health care needs for Kaiser Hospital in Hollywood. Lewis said she felt a pull to expand her career and return to her roots in sociology. “My mother was a teacher, so the value of education has been embedded in me since childhood,” she said. “When I thought about how I could best utilize my talents, the classroom seemed like a natural fit.” Preferring to teach adult learners, Lewis signed on with the MATCH program. She will assist in Mekelburg's Introduction to Sociology class.