In the Pine Bluff School District, two longtime supporters have earned the title of "No. 1 fan": Greg Walker and Alberta Jackson.
Before Jackson took on the role of athletic department secretary in 1993, the former health and physical education teacher was a dedicated mother of four Pine Bluff athletes -- Jeffrey, Erik, Leonard and Nanne.
"I started doing that because my boys were in athletics, and I wanted to see them play, so I had to quit teaching," Jackson, 80, said. "I'm going to be wherever they are. That's just been me all of their lives. As a result, I started contract subbing."
Thursday marked Jackson's final day as secretary in one of Arkansas' most storied high school athletic departments before retirement. She's seen Zebras and Fillies teams rack up many championships in the past three decades while working under big coaching names such as Marion Glover, Bo Dean and Bobby Bolding.
Her most memorable experience at a state football championship came in the 1990s, in the midst of the Zebras' run of three straight titles.
"We were playing in War Memorial [Stadium] in the state finals. I did band halftime shows. Andrew Tolbert was our principal, and I got ready to sit down," Jackson said. "I'm upstairs in War Memorial, and I'm going to sit down. Then, he told me, 'They want you in the press box.'"
The team's spotter didn't come, Jackson found out, and she took on the role -- in addition to narrating the band's halftime show and turning in money from ticket sales.
"By the way, they're getting ready to do the invocation," Jackson was told. The preacher hadn't shown up.
"I said, look, I've got to be a spotter, I brought this money and I've got to do the band halftime show. I'm not doing the invocation, so y'all need to find somebody. That was my most memorable moment because I thought if I have to pray, we're in trouble."
Pine Bluff won the game.
"We had a slogan: 'We don't rebuild. We reload.' We had T-shirts to that effect. And, in the Glover era, that's what we did."
Jackson's loyalty to Pine Bluff athletics earned her another title from Bolding, the former Pine Bluff and White Hall coach and athletic director recently hired as Little Rock Parkview defensive coordinator.
"That's Miss Zebra, I can tell you that," said Bolding, who won 6A state titles with the Zebras in 2014 and 2015. "That's Miss Zebra for sure. She absolutely loves them Zebras and whatever they're doing. She was really good to the coaches. She took care of us. She took a lot off of us coaches and enabled us to spend time coaching. She's a Zebra through and through. She's stripes."
The term "Miss Zebra" fits Jackson appropriately, recent athletic director Cheryl Hatley said.
"I have the utmost respect for her and am appreciative of all the years she's given to us," she said. "Even when I was Coach Bolding's supervisor, it's the same thing."
Jackson would often ask local restaurants to provide meals for coaches during two-a-day practices and track meets. But Bolding even recalled moments when Jackson would put her culinary skills to work.
"There was always one day where she cooked," Bolding said. "We got some greens with some ham hocks. We got some groceries, now. She's the best ever at those greens. She'd come over, and you'd better get a plate, get in line, but don't go in there and start grabbing stuff. She'll slap you on the wrist like your mama would. She was something else."
One of Bolding's assistants, Jackson recalled, had passed out during two-a-days because he didn't get anything to eat during a short break, and she started a program called "Feed the Zebras" to make sure all the coaches were well-nourished.
Her love for the coaches and the programs also explain why she never sat with other fans in the bleachers. She made a spot for herself on the back porch of Dunaway Fieldhouse facing Jordan Stadium during home games.
"I get up in the stands, and the people are talking about our coaches," Jackson said. "Well, I'm not going to let you talk about my coaches. You're not going to talk about my coaches and you're not going to talk about my kids. If you want to talk about your kids, you talk about them at home, but you're not going to out-loud talk about them. I paid for a box seat I never sit in because I sit right there on the back porch. I don't have to hear it."
Walking away from her office at Dunaway wasn't an easy decision, Jackson said, but she's retiring after enduring changes to her job description.
"I was kind of [doing] athletics, but some more things were added to me, and that comes under 'other job duties as assigned,' so you can't buckle by the neck. "Your contract says, 'other duties as assigned,' so you have to do them. I did it, but that let me know that's not what I want to do."
Now, Jackson will have more time to spend with two great-grandchildren, ages 5 and 9, and two nephews she'd like to see compete in sports.
"I'm going to be gone, but I won't be gone," she said. "I do have to divide my time up because my nephew is playing at Parkview, and Bobby Bolding is his position coach."
That likely won't change her place in the history of Pine Bluff athletics.
"She's an icon, not just for athletics, but for the whole school," Bolding said. "Miss AD is what I call her."