EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – From the battlefield to the school board — one Michigan man is using what he learned in the military to give back as an educator.
“I joined the army at 17,” said Anthony Kruckeberg. “Throughout my career, I had several deployments overseas.”
Kruckeberg is a veteran who spent years testing Blackhawk helicopters and mentoring other soldiers. He’s now mentoring students as a substitute teacher and school board president of Great Lakes Learning Academy.
“It’s been a very rewarding experience to be able to impact the kids in ways,” Kruckeberg said. “I want to be someone I wish I had when I was a kid going through some tough times.”
Kruckeberg was forced to retire from the Army because of medical issues, but he was still hungry to serve, so he decided to get two bachelors degrees from Michigan State University in History and Social Studies Education. He said the ultimate goal is to become a school administrator to further mentor young people.
“I would like to be an administrator. I love the mentorship aspect, that’s what I like the most,” Kruckeberg said. “The mentorship is what carries someone throughout the current subject mater or the A-grade. It can be lifelong.”
Aside from education, Kruckeberg also mentors other veterans and even coaches nearly 10 youth sports teams. He said a lot of his motivation to help others stems from how much support he and his family has received.
“I just kind of delve into a lot of different things to give back as much as I can because everyone was very supportive on all my deployments, taking care of my family and my kids,” Kruckeberg said.
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