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Each week, Toni Jacobs steps through the doors of Drew Central High School, ready to support students and shape young lives in the community that helped shape her.
Jacobs recently completed her 17th year in education and her fifth with the Drew Central School District, where she serves as the high school counselor.
She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 2008 and worked as a mental health paraprofessional while earning her master’s in elementary education and teaching from UAM in 2010-2011.
Before joining Drew Central, Jacobs spent five years in the classroom at McGehee Elementary School, where she taught sixth-grade science. When a counseling position opened within McGehee Public Schools, she jumped at the opportunity, sharing that she had always known she wanted to pursue a career in mental health.
“Some people have books where you write down every year, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’, she said. “When I look back at mine, it’s always centered around mental health. One time, I even said ‘a psychiatrist’.”
Jacobs spent several years as a counselor at McGehee Middle School while earning additional degrees and licenses to better support students’ needs.
In 2021, she took on the role of counselor at Drew Central High School, stepping back into the very halls she walked as a teenager. Jacobs attended Drew Central Schools from kindergarten to eleventh grade before transferring to Monticello High School for her senior year.
To her, returning to Drew Central felt like coming home.
“I love being back there. Drew Central is home to me,” she said.
In her daily work, Jacobs spends much of her time supporting students' academic and emotional well-being, helping them succeed both in school and beyond.
“I'm helping support students emotionally, socially, and academically, and also helping prepare them for their future,” she said.
When asked to describe a typical day in her shoes, Jacobs emphasized that no two days are the same.
“Every day is different,” she said. “And that's what I love about my job. You never know what the day will bring.”
The part of her job Jacobs said she enjoys most is helping students discover and hone their passions: “Just finding their passion, helping them discover what it is they love and how they can take what they love and use it in their future.”
She has the unique opportunity to guide students from the moment they step onto the high school campus until they graduate, allowing her to build genuine connections and stay invested in their success.
“I’ve helped students develop plans, and they come back so many years later, and they’re showing me, and they’re proud to talk about it,” she said. “It’s great seeing who they become and them realizing that they are capable of doing hard things and hard work to get them to where they want to be.”
Jacobs wants students to know that she is always there to support them, through good times and bad.
“I want them to know that they always have someone who has their back, who's always rooting for them and that they can always come to,” she said.
Jacobs is also passionate about mental health awareness and encourages those struggling not to do so in silence.
“It’s okay to need help, and it’s okay to ask for help,” she said.
To improve students’ success, Jacobs encourages families to stay engaged with the school and community.
“There's so much going on in our community, from scholarships to job opportunities to our partnership with UAM, so just take advantage of those opportunities in whatever way best fits your students,” she said.
This coming fall, UAM, in partnership with Drew Central Schools, will launch a collegiate academy, giving students the opportunity to graduate high school with an associate’s degree.
Jacobs said that she and the Drew Central leadership team always welcome conversations with families about potential opportunities and post-secondary options.
“We are there to help in any way that we can because we definitely want the best for the families and students in our community,” she said.
She emphasizes that students are most successful when they receive support from all directions.
“It takes everyone in the school system, everyone in the community, and everyone at home, in the family,” she said. “The more support [students] receive, the more they can realize that ‘I can do this,’ that ‘this is possible’.”
Through her daily work, Jacobs is helping ensure that students have all the tools they need to be successful, no matter where life takes them next.
