DAVIS, Calif. -- A course in ballroom dancing does not often open doors in one's career journey, but to former UC Davis football great Preston Jackson, it unlocked one of many opportunities along the way to his becoming a successful teacher and coach at California Middle School in Sacramento, and more recently, a school board president for the Washington Unified School District.

Aggie EVO, UC Davis' student-athlete outcomes program, teaches many important skills in preparing its students for their professional futures. Resumé-building, interviewing skills and elevator pitches may be part of the curriculum, but the promenade chassé and the reverse corte will not likely be added to the AMS 95 course syllabus at any time soon.

In fairness, it was not merely a dance class that carved out Jackson's career path. The advice of friends and family, a visit from a future legendary coach, and his own hard work and willingness to pursue opportunities played the more substantial parts. Still, just like on the dance floor, some well-timed twists and turns, and steps both forward and backward were part of Jackson's journey.

Jackson had little interest in teaching when he first arrived at the university out of south Sacramento's Valley High. In fact, he first had little interest in UC Davis. He attended the school's summer football camp and even won the Best Back award, but this somehow did not heighten his interest in becoming an Aggie. However, the recruitment by then assistant coach Steve Da Prato and the insistence of Jackson's mother, Celia, kept UC Davis in the picture.

"My mom pressured me and she badgered me about it, and when I got in, I decided 'I guess I'm going,'" Jackson recalls. "But once I went, it was full speed ahead."

Still, Jackson had to wait until his junior season before the chance to contribute could surface. Joe Genasci had wrapped up his career the year before, and veteran running backs Kevin Piggee and Keith Williams both departed the program. Seizing this opportunity, Jackson went from being (at best) No. 4 on the depth chart in 1991 to earning the starting job in 1992. 

He responded with one of the finest careers in school history: season rushing totals of 1,435 and 1,826 yards in his final two seasons, plus another Aggie benchmark of 40 career touchdowns. In only 23 games as the team's primary back, Jackson rushed for at least 100 yards 21 times, with three double-century performances. He and Khari Jones formed one of the most memorable RB-QB combinations in UC Davis annals, and both players entered the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000.

Jackson graduated from UC Davis with a degree in organizational studies in 1993, and had aspirations for a sports-related career, particularly in broadcasting. He interned at two Sacramento television stations: KCRA, under the tutelage of Ron Hyde; and KOVR, working for Andy Liscano. Jackson briefly helped out on the Aggie football staff, but struggled with the dynamics of coaching players with whom he was teammates just one season earlier.

An opportunity to return to his alma mater emerged a few years later, thanks to a phone call from diehard UC Davis fan Tim Burrell, who was looking after the program's new running back, Matt Brown. Jackson joined the Aggie staff in 1998, first mentoring G.P. Muhammad, who eclipsed his career rushing record; then Brown, who matched his career touchdowns benchmark. 

To pay the bills while serving as a volunteer assistant coach, Jackson worked as a substitute teacher at the recommendation of his old Valley High vice principal, Wilma Osborn. However, this side gig still did not inspire Jackson's passion to teach. 

"At the time, it was just a means for making money. That was just the way I supported myself," said Jackson. "My goal was still to get into coaching full-time. That turned out to be a lot harder than I thought."

Jackson met with another former Aggie, Paul Hackett, then the head coach down at USC. He also interviewed for a scouting job with the Chicago Bears and later served on that team's training camp staff, but full-time coaching jobs were simply not panning out for the UC Davis record-holder. 

In the meantime, it was the advice of yet another program alum that perhaps planted a seed. Chris Petersen, still years away from his own successful head coaching stints at Boise State and Washington, paid a visit to UC Davis. Coach Pete's recommendation was for Jackson to get his teaching credential. While appreciative of the wisdom, Jackson reiterated: he wanted to be a coach, not a teacher.

"But [Petersen] said, 'that's what coaching is. You're teaching on a court or a field, but coaching is teaching. If you have a credential and you're a coach, you can pretty much walk in anywhere.' Chris told me that, and I said okay, but I still didn't want to teach," Jackson said.

Ultimately, Jackson enjoyed his time on the Aggie staff but began to realize that he was spinning his wheels. He had worked as a substitute teacher for nearly a decade, and clearly had enough of a knack for the classroom to sustain him. Plus, he had everyone from former vice principals to a future national Coach of the Year winners nudging him in that direction. 

"I'm a believer that the universe speaks to you in whispers," said Jackson. "Coaching jobs kept drying up and fizzling out, but on the teaching side, things kept opening up."

What followed was a series of what Jackson calls "serendipitous moments," all of which culminated in his finding a home as a teacher. He ran across a flyer for an internship with the Sacramento City Unified School District, a program that allowed someone to teach at one of its schools while simultaneously earning a credential at Sacramento State. This also meant Jackson needed to take the battery of tests required by the program deadline, but if there was one skill football taught him, it was the act of putting his head down and keeping his eyes forward while powering through the obstacles.

Jackson passed all three of the tests to qualify for the internship, but still had concerns about having enough sustained income to pay for his coursework. The intermittent nature of substitute teaching would not be enough; rather, he would need a long-term substitute position. As luck would have it, a teacher at McClatchy High School fell ill and Jackson filled in for the remainder of the school year, thus ensuring the funds to cover his school bills from January to June.

Soon after this, the district decided to drop the internship. Sacramento State still offered its courses, but without the district parternship, the university no longer had the means to place its 28 students in teaching positions. Jackson found himself driving around Sacramento, dropping off resumes at schools in which he was interested, including the one closest to him: Cal Middle. By the time he arrived home, he had already received a phone call for an interview.

What Jackson did not know at the time was how impeccable his timing was. "The principal at the time said she had just had a conversation with the front office secretary, who was black. She said she wanted to find a way to reach the African-American students," he said. "Not more than 10 minutes later, I walked through the door and handed her my resume."

It bears repeating: if the district had not canceled the internship, Sacramento State would not have advised its credential students to submit their own resumes, and Jackson would not have felt the need to visit Cal Middle at that key moment. "Serendipitous moments," indeed.

In that first year, Jackson taught math, English, science, then back to math. Often, he was moved to a different subject just so the school administrators could justify the hiring of this as-yet-uncredentialed teacher to district supervisors. When a Cal Middle physical education teacher left for another school, Jackson not only had the opportunity to move to the P.E. department but also to receive an emergency credential. The lone snag was that his years of UC Davis football left him one course shy of the units required for an emergency credential in P.E. (each season of football counts as PHE 006 academic units).

To fulfill that prerequisite, Jackson signed up for a P.E. class in – oh yes – ballroom dancing.

"At the time, Sara and I were still dating," Jackson said, referring to his wife, the former Sara Morenc, who still serves as the UC Davis assistant women's tennis coach. "She said, 'I'll take it with you.' So we went and took this ballroom dancing class. It gave me enough P.E. units so that I could apply for the emergency credential, which was good for a year. By that time, my internship program would have been done anyway. They hired me to teach P.E. in January of that year, and I've been in that spot ever since."

Not long after joining Cal Middle's teaching staff, another opportunity arose to take over as the head track & field coach. Jackson had previously served as the head track coach at Florin High during his time with the Aggie football team; and was an assistant track coach at Valley, so his experience base was already in place. Furthermore, Jackson benefitted from one of the greatest educations in the sport one could ever ask for: two years as a student-athlete under Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Famers Jon and Deanne Vochatzer.

Despite his outstanding junior season at UC Davis, the Vochatzers saw room for improvement in the star Aggie running back, and invited him to join their team to work on his speed. Jackson was doubtful at first, until he got a glimpse of the Vochatzers' unrivaled expertise in running mechanics. Jon, a former assistant with the football team, went through a sample of game film frame by frame, breaking down every part of Jackson's technique. 

"When he sat there and broke it down for me, I thought, 'okay, I'll be there on Monday,'" said Jackson. "It was that much of an eye-opener for me. And ever since that day, I have been the biggest advocate and proponent for kids running track, I don't care what sport you do."

The tutelage of paid off when Jackson outran Chico State's speedy defensive back en route to a 77-yard run during his senior year, and it continues to pay dividends as Jackson oversees both the boys' and girls' teams at Cal Middle. The Vochatzers also instilled an appreciation for a sport that – like UC Davis as a university, and like teaching as a profession – Jackson admits entering reluctantly. 

"Running track is the best thing that any athlete can do, at any level. I don't care what sport you play. It just makes you that much better at everything," Jackson said. "If I had not done that with Coach Vee and Coach Dee, I would not have known that."

Then two years ago, yet another opportunity emerged: an open seat on the Washington Unified School District Board of Directors – not as a trustee, but as president. Jackson had previously taken an interest in the school board, as it served the district where he and Sara are raising three young children. However, he had concerns about how to fund a campaign. Again, Jackson's timing was on: a new superintendent launched a summer program at Cal Middle that year, and needed to hire a principal for this new school.

Jackson had added an administrative credential by this point in his career, and landed the job as principal for the summer school. At the end of that summer, he registered for the school board election, with the summer principal income now in place to pay for the campaign. 

"I had heard rumblings around the community about the district and the school board," said Jackson. "I knew there were some things that I could change and make better. Instead of being one of the people who just complains about things, I wanted to be part of the solution. That's where my interest in running for school board came in, out of an interest to make the schools better not just for my daughters but for everyone's kids."

Jackson had never been involved in an election campaign before, and he and Sara "learned everything on the fly." He visited his community door to door, even happening upon the home of Steve Da Prato – the man who first recruited him to UC Davis a quarter century before. He earned endorsements and made media appearances. The family cars were adorned with campaign logos, which is why local Aggie fans often spotted the name of the UC Davis football great driving around town. Jackson won the election that November. His campaign Facebook page, called "Preston Jackson 4 WUSD kids," still serves as a resource for regular updates. 

Jackson brings unusual perspective to the role, since it is relatively rare that an active teacher serves on a school board. Former and retired teachers, plus administrators, policymakers and legislators tend to populate school boards. Having a current teacher on the board is perhaps even more crucial in 2020, as the trustees make decisions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"For me as a board member, I have to look out for the well-being of the entire district, not just an entire school, and not just the teachers," Jackson said. "We also have to look at how to maintain the quality of education for our students, and to meet the needs of their different backgrounds. And then we also have to look at the needs of our classified employees, to keep those folks safe as well. Keeping that balance equitable has been hard."

Most importantly, Jackson remains prepared for an ever-changing situation, to adapt when previous decisions no longer work. "That's part of being a teacher, to be able to read the audience," he says. "We have to have the ability to pivot and change directions quickly."

For a record-setting running back who also knows a thing or two about ballroom dancing, that should suit Jackson just fine.

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