In October, Jackson was recognized for her own success when she was inducted into the Iowa High School Speech Association Hall of Fame. She is one of only two people in the state who have judged all six levels (district, all-state and state for both large group and individual contests) in the IHSSA in one year.

“She’s so giving with her time and excited to be around people,” said Craig Ihnen, executive director of Iowa High School Speech Association. “She will make a student feel like they just won the lottery and are the best speech kid on earth. That’s how we want someone to affect kids. That’s why she was chosen for this honor of being in the Hall of Fame.”

Jackson is one of 48 people in the IHSSA Hall of Fame.

“It’s a very select group,” said Ihnen. “She has had an effect on the entire state of Iowa and that is one of the criteria for the Hall of Fame. Not just a local effect, but an effect that is statewide. She has affected the entire state with her enthusiasm and her ideas. She has made more kids excited about speech than so many other people we have had in our state.”

Jackson graduated from Macon High School in Missouri in 1979. Growing up in a town of less than 5,000 people had its benefits.

“I was an athlete and performer,” Jackson said. “I could do everything.”

Jackson graduated with a Bachelor of Science in education from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri in 1982. She earned her master’s degree in literature from that institution in 1984.

After working as a teacher’s assistant at Truman State, Jackson sought warmer weather and a new opportunity in Hawaii. She taught at Hawaii Pacific University from 1984 to 1987. While there she developed the college’s first music program.

Next, she landed in Fort Dodge.

“I realized I missed the Midwest,” Jackson said. “I love the seasons. I grew up with the seasons. That’s how I mark time and mark celebrations.”

Jackson, who at one point in her life thought about becoming a gospel singer, found that she had great abilities to direct plays and performances.

“I came into theater through the back door,” Jackson said. “I had a knack for voices, for timing. I will watch shows and see how they did it. I think I’ve just been blessed with a creative eye when it comes to staging. I go to bed and I wake up with ideas.”

Jackson played a pivotal role in the success of the Fort Dodge Senior High theater program. She worked at the high school from 1987 to 1996.

While there, the high school won the IHSSA Sweepstakes Trophy three years in a row.

“I loved the high school,” Jackson said. “I love the relationships you build with kids and families.”

In 1996, Jackson was recruited to work at Iowa Central.

“I wasn’t looking to work at Iowa Central,” she recalled. “They asked me to come and interview. I went kicking and screaming to Iowa Central. I didn’t want to leave my theater students at FDSH. They just made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I had built this program at the high school and I loved knowing them for four years. But it was one of the best decisions ever. I have loved my time there. I think Iowa Central is a magical community college. We (theater) are just a cog in this amazing institution. It’s an honor to say I work at Iowa Central.”

One of her students who would later work alongside her is Will Lopes, Iowa Central’s director of vocal music.

Lopes said it’s Jackson’s relentless passion that makes her special.

“It has 200 percent to do with her passion,” Lopes said. “She’s very passionate about what she does. She believes in her students and the power of creativity and arts. Because of that she always gives her 200 percent. That is the reason she is so successful. She will never cut corners. She will get it done, even if that means she will be here until 6 a.m.”

Jackson encouraged Lopes to bring his talents to Iowa Central as an instructor.

“She is the reason I came back to Iowa Central,” Lopes said. “I was in South Florida, had no intention of coming back. Before I even left the Midwest, she said she would love to work together someday. She just gave me the call and I accepted because of that partnership.”

Jackson said sometimes people underestimate the amount of work that goes into a production.

“Most people think all I do is fun and games,” Jackson said. “I really do love what I do, but people who don’t know theater or the process of it, really have no idea how much work goes into all of it. The choice of the show, the casting, coaching kids who are inexperienced — and even kids who are experienced, I want to take them to the next level. It’s really, really hard work. We take a deep dive into a production and it takes every waking moment of creativity. I wake up at 2 a.m. thinking how I can fix one scene.”

Jackson said there is some crossover between directing a play and coaching on an athletic field.

“It’s the most rewarding job ever,” Jackson said. “I think athletic coaches would tell you the same thing. When you invest in kids and demand of them what you want and then they do it, it’s a double celebration between the student and director.”

There’s another similarity between sports and participating in Jackson’s theater classes.

“Students are surprised when I ask them to run laps when they come late or miss an entrance,” Jackson said. “If they weren’t listening, it’s a lap through the auditorium.”

From “John Lennon & Me” and “Falling Awake” to “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Scarlet Pimpernel,” there’s been no shortage of memorable plays and musicals through the years.

“A former student of mine (Aaron Westrum), wrote the play (“Falling Awake”),” Jackson said. “It was so beautifully done. There were parts I wanted to revise and he said, ‘Please do.'”

Jackson had actually judged Westrum when he was in high school.

“That was a really cool full circle moment,” Jackson said.

Jackson has also been able to work with her own children, Alex and Tara, in theater.

“When both of my children came to Iowa Central, when they chose to come here mainly so they could run cross country with Dee Brown (coach) and do theater with me, that was a highlight,” Jackson said.

Alex and Tara were each valedictorians of their respective classes at Fort Dodge Senior High.

“They could have gone anywhere,” she said. “At Iowa Central, you meet so many students from across the globe. Both of my kids said they traveled the world by staying home.”

Jackson directed her son in “Scarlet Pimpernel, which she described as one of the most challenging musicals she’s ever directed.

“They both got to do musicals with me,” Jackson said. “That was pretty sweet.”

While Jackson said having a place in the IHSSA Hall of Fame is an honor, it was never something she expected to achieve.

“I am not a person who really looks at all of that or seeks out and wants to achieve a specific accomplishment,” Jackson said. “Every time my students nail a show — I would say my directing work for every single show where I’ve gotten what I wanted out of those kids — that’s my greatest accomplishment.”

The mantra Jackson lives by is, “Give your best in whatever that is.”

She prides herself in being consistent.

“I get after it,” Jackson said. “I am not a procrastinator. I kind of overprepare. I am so specific about where people go and how I want them to move.”

Jackson is driven by her Christian faith.

“I am a really strong person of faith and I’ve always just felt like the doors that were supposed to open for me, would,” she said. “Watch for the doors that open and go through them. If it’s the wrong one, walk out and go through another one.”