Staff Spotlight: Jason Mendel Creating Community at LMS

This post is part of the Lynden Schools Staff Spotlight series

Teaching seventh grade at Lynden Middle School has proven the sweet spot for Jason Mendel. A former eighth-grade teacher, he finds that working with seventh graders keeps him connected to students a year longer. And that helps build the community he loves at LMS. 

The Role

Mendel teaches both seventh-grade English language arts (ELA) and social studies and an ELA support class dubbed Lion Pride. 

“I really enjoy being part of communities within the middle school with students and staff members,” he says. “Last year I moved down from eighth grade to seventh grade, which enabled me to stay in touch with more students from last year. That has been a new and really rewarding experience so far.” 

Getting to Know Jason 

Mendel may be a self-proclaimed “homebody,” but that hasn’t stopped him from joining an ever-growing community of LMS staff in fun and games, getting involved in community sports (both in Lynden and Seattle) and experiencing first-hand the view of being a parent within Lynden Schools. 

A group of staff started a weekly volleyball game at the middle school years ago. It continues to grow, and Mendel says that has led him to “connecting with staff members that I otherwise would not have.” 

While Jason spends much of his time with family, wife Tatiana and two sons Logan and Isaac, the fall also includes University of Washington football. “My father and I have been season-ticket holders going on seven years now,” he said. But football isn’t the only sport in the Mendel household, as Logan is old enough to try out new sports this year, from baseball to soccer. When not involved in the sports world, Mendel says he enjoys working around the house on cars and woodworking projects. 

Through it all, though, Mendel is a parent, now starting to see the world of Lynden Schools “through a parents’ perspective, which has been fun.”