ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: It came as no surprise to those who know him that Paul McLeod was named 2009 Educator of the Year by the California Journalism Education Coalition, as well as 2009 Volunteer of the Year by the Journalism Association of Community Colleges. A decorated newsman, McLeod arrived at Harbor College as journalism adviser in Feb., 2006 and quickly drew praise from faculty and students alike for his steady approach at building a solid journalism program with no school funding and lack of facilities brought on by massive campus re-construction. Despite obstacles, enrollment in journalism courses hit an all-time high, the Harbor Tides print edition reached new marks in the number of pages printed per semester, hctides.com, the online product providing students a vehicle to produce campus news in real time, went live and the Associate of Arts Degree in Journalism has been restored. As a working professional, McLeod has also received kudos for bringing real world teachings into the classroom. His “been there and done that” philosophy and no-nonsense approach at meeting deadlines provides students insight into real world journalism. While at the Times, McLeod won several writing awards and was a member of a staff of reporters that covered the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, which earned the paper a Pulitzer Prize in spot reporting. His favorite accolades include a 1997 Times Award as lead writer in Williamsport, Pa., reporting on the South Mission Viejo youth baseball team at the Little League World Series and a 1994 story for The Times' Spanish-language supplement about Latino diabetes. The latter shared national honors from the American Diabetes Association for best awareness story. He was also honored in 2004 by the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section with a Victory with Honor Award for integrity in journalism.  McLeod began his journalism career in 1972 at the Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram and later worked in the Public Information Office at Cypress College, where he handled sports publicity and photo production. McLeod began teaching journalism part-time at Fullerton College in 1982 and has also taught communication and broadcasting courses at Cypress, El Camino and Orange Coast colleges. After leaving the newspaper business in June, 2004 he joined the adjunct faculty at Los Angeles City College and instructed students in basic news writing and mass communication courses. In August, 2007 he was hired to advise the student newspaper at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. He quickly established himself there as one of the top journalism instructors in the state by creating the award-winning student web site www.lariatnews.com. McLeod continues to teach at both community colleges, making him the only teacher in the state to advise two student newspapers. McLeod is the product of the California community college and state college systems. He earned an A.A. degree graduate at Long Beach City College in 1974 and a Bachelors in Radio-Television in 1976 and a lifetime community college teaching credential in 1983 at CSU Long Beach. In his spare time McLeod is a USSF-certified soccer referee, and this past winter was selected to officiate a CIF (high school) championship match in Los Angeles. An avid body-boarder, he has been active in youth and civic groups in and around Huntington Beach, where he lives with his wife of 31 years, Ellen Fields McLeod, an award-winning special education teacher. They have two daughters: Chanda Maroney, 27, a graduate of UC Irvine and a special education teacher and former volleyball coach at Huntington Beach Edison High School, and Sarah McLeod, 24, a business school graduate of CSU Long Beach,  who currently works in the cosmotology industry.