Living the Mission: Sensitive to the Needs of Others, Jordan, ’19, and Anna Grace Jackson, ’16
Service is more than a profession for Jordan Jackson ’19 and Anna Grace Jackson ’16. It is a calling.
Today, the married couple serves in the United States Air Force, each in a role centered on caring for others. Jordan serves as an Airman First Class in Security Forces, while Anna Grace serves as a Captain in the Nurse Corps. Though their responsibilities look different from day to day, both are united by a desire to support, protect, and care for the people around them.
That commitment to others first began to take shape during their years at FPD.
Jordan credits FPD with helping him develop a worldview rooted in faith, humility, and compassion.
“FPD laid a foundation of living a life that’s rooted in the Lord and having faith and confidence in His plans,” Jordan said. “It also helped create habits to walk out humility in every aspect of life and to be caring to those around me.”
Those lessons continue to influence how he approaches his role in the Air Force today. Whether supporting fellow service members or interacting with people from different backgrounds and life experiences, Jordan strives to be a model of grace, patience, and understanding.
“FPD enhanced my worldview and exposed me to the real-life culture and struggles of others, not only around me but around the world. It instilled a sense of purpose in bettering myself and those I come in contact with for God’s glory,” Jordan said.
For Anna Grace, learning to recognize and respond to the needs of others became a defining part of her high school experience. Through FPD’s community service program, she devoted more than 1,100 hours to serving others, an experience that broadened her perspective and deepened her understanding of what it means to live with a servant’s heart.
“In all that time spent, I got the chance to encounter so many different people from all different backgrounds,” she said. “My time spent doing community service broadened my horizon of others; it shifted my mindset from being self-focused to being people-focused. That’s the heart of Jesus.”
Today, that mindset is at the center of her work as a nurse and military officer. As a member of the Air Force Nurse Corps, Anna Grace provides care for patients while also investing in the people she leads. Beyond meeting physical needs, she strives to support the emotional and mental well-being of the airmen under her leadership.
“I come alongside my airmen and walk through their season of life with them,” she said. “I’m constantly encouraging and cheering them on.”
Both Jordan and Anna Grace credit FPD with helping them develop the confidence to lead while remaining grounded in humility. Jordan points to opportunities to speak before his peers and interact with leaders at a young age, while Anna Grace remembers teachers who encouraged her strong personality and taught her how to communicate boldly and respectfully.
The influence of mentors also left a lasting mark. Jordan remembers Coach Brett Collier and Art Teacher Mrs. Stephanie Garrison as people who modeled Christ-like leadership, encouragement, and care. Anna Grace credits Coach Bob Veazey as a teacher and mentor who continued investing in her long after graduation, even writing a recommendation letter that supported her journey into the Air Force.
Looking back, both see FPD as a place that helped shape not only their careers but also their understanding of what matters most. Through faith, service, and relationships, they learned that leadership begins with caring for others—a lesson they continue to live out every day in service to their country and the people around them.
“I would not be the person I am today without the foundation that FPD provided me,” Anna Grace said. “I was shown how to learn, shown how to care for others, and shown how to build a life with a foundation rooted in Christ. FPD has continued to bless me even 10 years after graduating!”