Jessica Saum is a special educator, author, military spouse and is the 2022 Arkansas Teacher of the Year.  Jessica previously worked as a self-contained special education teacher in Cabot, Arkansas and is known not only for her excellence in the classroom but for her advocacy work on behalf of her students and her support for military connected families. As Teacher of the Year, Jessica used her platform to focus on increasing awareness and improving resources for districts who assist students of military families when they transition to a new school and state and supporting educators in ensuring meaningful inclusive practices for students who receive special education services. In her one-year tenure as Arkansas Teacher of the Year, she traveled the state and country as a representative for the teaching profession while serving as a non-voting member on the Arkansas State Board of Education. 

Jessica is an Association of American Educators Advocacy Fellow, a member of the Literacy Advisory Council for United Through Reading and is on the advisory board for GiGi’s Playhouse Little Rock. She was named a 2023 Presidential Leadership Scholar working to advocate for improved policy supporting military families and their unique educational needs during military transitions. Jessica previously served as a special advisor to the Arkansas Council for Military Children and was appointed in April 2024 by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders to the Arkansas Council for Military Children.

In the 2023-2024 school year, she began serving as the Collaboration and Inclusion Coordinator for the Cabot Public School District supporting educators implementing inclusive practices and working as an agent of change with a relentless commitment to inclusive education. She graduated in  2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Education in Early Childhood and Special Education from Arkansas State University.  In 2016, she received her Master of Science in Education in 4-12 Special Education from Arkansas State University and in December 2020, Jessica completed the Arkansas State University Special Education Director graduate certificate program in educational leadership.