Currently, five people are veterans and work at Fenton Schools: AGS teachers Don Kutchey, Todd Mills, Mark Long and Jennifer Wright, and North Road Principal Stefanie Roberts. Roberts, Mills and Long were in the Army, Kutchey was in the Navy, and Wright was in the Coast Guard.
Mills, who was in the Army and served for 25 years, and also served as a company commander in Georgia talked about how some people don’t understand what serving truly represents.
“It’s hard for some people to understand that within a 24 hour notice I could be on a plane to anywhere they told me to go, leaving family and friends behind to serve this great country,” Mills said. “Most people may not understand that we take great pride in serving. We also have great respect for those that have served before us. Not everyone is willing to make sacrifices for something they believe in. If it were not for people like myself and others, this country would not be as great as it is. We are the defenders of those that can not defend themselves. I have met people from all over the world while being a member of the armed services. Joining anyone of the branches of the military should make you feel proud to have accomplished such a selfless service. The military can pay for your schooling so that you can get a degree. There are many technology training degrees within the armed services. It truly is a place where you can, ’Be All That You Can Be.’”
Roberts also was in the army and is still an active member of the Army Reserves. Roberts decided to enlist herself after 9/11 to serve her country and is a Military Intelligence Officer who has served with different units throughout her career. She has served in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany and most recently, Jordan, and has liked building relationships with different people around her.
“When my students find out I’m in the military, many of them will tell me about their family members who are also in the service. So, we build a commonality and it’s the beginning of building relationships,” Roberts said.” “Being in any branch of the military takes determination and a strong work ethic. There’s no slacking or doing things half-way; it’s just not safe or acceptable.”
Wright is an ELA teacher at AGS. “I served 8.5 years in the U.S. Navy. I enlisted in 1993 at a time when women were still not able to serve in all the jobs in the military,” Wright said. “I am thankful for the women who served before me who opened doors so that I would have the opportunities that I had. I was a reservist so after basic training in Orlando and Radioman, a school in San Diego, I served one weekend per month and two weeks during the year. I had to keep my ‘readiness’ (which basically means keep up on all of my certifications and training) so that I could be called up to serve where my country needed me.”
Wright also talked about what she enjoyed about being in the Coast Guard.
“One of the cool places I was stationed was at NATO ( North Atlantic Treaty Organization ) Headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia where military members from all of our allies around the world served. Another place I worked was at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville Florida,” Wright said. “I think my favorite was the four or five years that I spent doing Search and Rescue with the United States Coast Guard on the Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay. We did a lot of training and patrolling. I also stood watch in the communication center, where one of my duties was to listen for radio calls and dispatch the boats to rescue someone who was in trouble out on the water. I was most nervous when we did training with the Coast Guard helicopters, but that was also pretty fun. I believe the skills and experience I gained from my time in the military helped me get hired here at Fenton Schools. I appreciate the notes and emails from students that I receive on Veterans Day—it is nice when people acknowledge my service to our country.”
Veterans Day is annually celebrated on Nov. 11 to represent all the people who proudly served for the United States.
The other two district veterans, Long and Kutchey, were contacted for comment but did not respond prior to the publication deadline.
