Gilbert teacher stars in home-repair TV show

A Mesquite High stagecraft teacher will be featured on three episodes of HGTV's Over Your Head.

The show pairs experienced craftsmen with homeowners to help with home improvement projects.

Mark Jordan begins filming the episodes in October.

He hopes his experiences with appearing on television will serve as an example for several of his students who aspire to act.

"[The students] love it," Jordan said. "They are going crazy about it."

In one episode, Jordan will help a family resume a kitchen remodeling project that was delayed when the wife became pregnant. He and the husband will strip wallpaper and build a taller breakfast nook. Currently the husband is too tall to eat comfortably in the area.

In the next house, Jordan will help repair cabinets and pour a new concrete countertop. The project for the third show hasn't been determined.

Each episode takes about a week to film in California, and one will be shot over fall break.

Jordan was directing the fall play after school when he got the call from HGTV's producers asking him to be on the show.

"Sometimes they can get the idea their teachers are just older people, who may know something about what they are talking about but not actually do it," said Jordan, 31.

This week students worked with Jordan in Mesquite's scene shop putting the set together for the fall play.

Mandy Brilbeck, 16, said Jordan's work gives students, who want to go into drama, hope.

"It's very exciting," Brilbeck said. "It proves how good our drama program is to have a teacher go on a TV program."

The show airs 11 a.m. Saturdays, but episodes featuring Jordan probably won't air until late summer or fall of next year.