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She walked into Mountain Home High School at 23 years old, nervous enough to be teaching seniors who were barely five years younger. Eighteen years later, Jennifer Crawford is walking out having helped build the systems, the stories, and the social media presence that define how Mountain Home Public Schools talks to its community.
The MHPS Board of Education accepted Crawford’s resignation during its Feb. 19 meeting. She will remain with the district through Spring Break, when Hope House, a current Mountain Home Junior High teacher and softball coach, will take over her duties as Communications and Licensure Coordinator.
Crawford has not yet announced her next professional opportunity publicly.
She started her career at MHPS as an English teacher at the high school, a role she said still makes her laugh when she thinks about it.
“I was 23 and the students were 18,” Crawford said. “I still can’t believe I was able to teach anyone anything, but I guess I did. We sort of learned together, I think.”
One of those students was a senior named Haley Wilhite, who told Crawford on the spot that she planned to become an English teacher. She did. Wilhite, now Haley Mattick, returned to MHHS to teach after graduating from Williams Baptist University and worked alongside Crawford before Crawford moved to Central Office.
“Working with her felt like a full circle moment,” Crawford said. “She still teaches ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ in her classroom, and she read it first in my room.”
Teaching at MHPS also came with some unconventional professional development. Crawford recalled a teacher externship through the district’s academy program that sent more than 20 high school teachers to the Baxter County Jail for a day of job shadowing. The group toured the facility and ate the standard inmate lunch, which Crawford remembered as a bologna sandwich and cold pork and beans.
“I always told people that the trip there scared me straight, because I realized the guards had to be able to see inmates from all angles, even when they used the restroom,” Crawford said. “I was already pretty sure a life of crime was not for me, but I was certain after that trip. I need a little more privacy and a little more meal variety than what the Baxter County Jail provides to inmates.”
She said she left that day with a new appreciation for local law enforcement.
Crawford’s path to communications was not entirely planned. Several years into her tenure, then-Superintendent Dr. Jake Long learned she had a journalism degree and asked her to write a few press releases. That assignment eventually grew into a full-time Communications Coordinator role, which Crawford said she built largely from scratch.
That included launching all of the district’s social media accounts. The district’s Facebook page will mark its 10th year this July.
“When I proposed starting that page, I got some pushback,” Crawford said. “People didn’t understand the way social media could be used in public education, and I think it was a little bit scary for some.”
She pitched the idea to the school board, received their approval and Long’s blessing, and the page went live. The decision proved its value when COVID-19 arrived and districts across the state scrambled to communicate with families. MHPS, with a well-established and widely followed social media presence already in place, was able to stay in consistent contact while others struggled.
Crawford said navigating the pandemic from a school communications office was among the hardest stretches of her career, but also the most formative.
“Was it also the most rewarding professional development of my entire career? Without a doubt YES!” she said. “A lot of our work and much of our family communications regarding the pandemic was replicated by other school districts.”
Crawford also helped develop the district’s work study program alongside then-principal Dr. Dana Brown, who led the high school for eight of Crawford’s years there. She also played a role in growing what was originally called FlexPath, now known as Bomber Virtual Academy, which allows students to work remotely while remaining part of the MHPS community.
The work drew recognition beyond the district. In January 2024, the Mountain Home Area Chamber of Commerce presented Crawford with its Educator of the Year Award at the organization’s annual banquet.
Beyond her work inside the district, Crawford has also been involved with the Mountain Home Education Foundation, a nonprofit established in 2003 that works to support students and educators through private funding that supplements what tax dollars provide. The foundation awards grants to teachers for innovative classroom projects, administers scholarship programs for MHPS graduates pursuing higher education, and hosts the annual Night of Honors, which recognizes former teachers, alumni, and community partners who have distinguished themselves in their fields or through community service. Its Project Promise scholarship program specifically targets Mountain Home High School graduates attending Arkansas State University Mountain Home, covering the tuition gap after other financial aid is applied.
As she prepares to leave, Crawford said she hopes the community appreciates what goes on behind the scenes every day to keep a school district running.
“There are so many factors that have to work in unison to make one day of school successful, and our people do that 178 times a year for our kids,” she said. “Every employee is important to the big picture.”
She leaves with no apparent regrets about the 18 years spent in Mountain Home.
“This is a great place to live and work, and while I am excited for what is next, I know this chapter will always be a major part of my story,” Crawford said.
Media contacts can reach Crawford at her current address through March 20. After that, House can be contacted at [email protected].
