Written by Fredricka Sharkey
When Amy Chronis ’15 came to Arkansas from Smithville, Texas, she visited several college campuses. She said the University of Central Arkansas was the only institution where she felt comfortable and at home.
![Amy Chronis Teaching](https://uca.edu/alumni/files/2020/09/IMG_5120.jpg)
“Then I started doing research on the College of Education, and it turned out to be the best decision I’ve ever made because this is still a really great school to go to,” Chronis said.
Chronis came to UCA in 2010. While she was not actively involved in many campus organizations or extracurricular activities, she did spend a great deal of time with other members of Kappa Delta Pi, an international education honor society, and served as a chapter officer. In 2015, the UCA chapter, Pi Delta, received the Achieving Chapter Excellence Award (ACE) at Kappa Delta Pi’s biennial convention in Orlando, Florida. During the convention, Chronis received a Distinguished Chapter Officer Award for her work with the UCA chapter. She was one of 17 chapter officers to receive the award.
After graduation, Chronis started teaching at Marguerite Vann Elementary in Conway as a resource teacher. Her husband, Angelo, is in the U.S. Air Force, and the family learned that they would be moving to Tokyo, Japan, in 2016.
“As a military spouse, sometimes there’s not a lot of opportunity for us,” she said. “Many of us are overqualified and underemployed, but I thankfully got an opportunity at Tokyo West International School.”
After arriving that August, Chronis taught third grade and served as the head of elementary at Tokyo West.
![Chronis Family in front of plane](https://uca.edu/alumni/files/2020/09/IMG_4544-765x1024.jpeg)
In 2017, she accepted an offer to teach on their residential base, Yokota Air Base, as the learning impaired, mild-moderate (LIMM) teacher for Joan K. Mendel Elementary School through the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) where she works with military-connected pupils and advocates for science-based reading programs and with other DoDEA staff.
Her other responsibilities include the campus crisis team and the advisory council. The council allows parents a mechanism to bring concerns to teachers who work collaboratively to find solutions. One issue the council recognized is the difficulty students sometimes face when transiting from one military base to another. In response, Chronis has hosted several parent information sessions to boost knowledge about reading. During these sessions, parents learn how Chronis teaches reading, which allows them to replicate those efforts at home. Other teachers were also encouraged to attend.
“I’m overseas, and everyone is like, ‘Oh, my gosh! Where did you come from? How do you know these things that you know? Where did you graduate from?’ I’m like, ‘Well it’s a little town in Arkansas,’” Chronis said.
She began work on a master’s degree at UCA but decided to put her education on hold after the birth of her son, Atlas, who is now 2 years old. The Chronis family received word that they will be returning to the United States soon, and she looks forward to continuing her education and career.
“I am so grateful for my education from UCA,” Chronis said.