The Pilot News - Cronk: A warm and fuzzy principal

“I already won in District 1. I’m gearing up for the swimsuit competition. Chris is in good shape, but he’s trying to get me buffed,” Cronk joked.
Chris Ross is a counselor at KMS and the person who nominated Cronk.
A sense of humor is one of the things that Cronk exhibits in all aspects of his life.
“I think the important thing is to take your job seriously, but I don’t take myself seriously,” he said.
“I am no more important than anyone else in this building. Oscar Wilde once said ‘Life is too important to be taken seriously.’ I just want to know at the end of my life, I have taken my best swing,” Cronk said.
Students respond to a sense of humor and fun — qualities Cronk has managed to hang onto during more than four decades in the education profession.
“Fun is a basic need... We lose our inner child as we get older... We become really boring people. That’s what happens when you take yourself too seriously...,” he said.
“Even when he lost his finger, I was ready to pass out and he was cracking jokes,” Ross said.
The incident Ross is referring to happened at an extracurricular activity and Cronk was injured while taking a turn in the dunk tank.
“I am the best nine-fingered principal in America,” Cronk said, which made Ross crack up once again.
Cronk’s carefree, zany nature creates an atmosphere that allows students to not only be themselves, but also provides everyone in the KMS community with memories that are discussed for years.
“I bought 500 kazoos with the intent of teaching everyone how to kazoo the school song for the homecoming parade of 2003. What I hadn’t bargained on was rain and wind,” Cronk said.
“Their big kazoo debut was a flop — we all just threw our heads back and laughed. It was almost as much fun, it not working as if it had. There isn’t a teacher one who doesn’t come up at homecoming and say ‘Hey Steve, remember the kazoos,’” he said.
Cronk, while he has had a lot of success with the students at KMS, credits many people for their contributions to the progress made by both students and staff.
“There have been amazing people here before me, and there will be amazing people here after I’ve gone — Chuck James and Paul Thomas, they were wonderful people who laid the foundation that allowed me to be me when I came here. They made it possible for me to succeed,” Cronk said.
“Dave Miller (assistant principal) — what a godsend. Dave takes care of a lot of the unglamorous things in our administration. I could never be Principal of the Year, principal of the county or even principal of a dog patch without Dave or Chris (Ross). They handle a lot of the really tough stuff, which allows me to take the warm and fuzzy approach,” he said.
Chris Ross also views the philosophy at KMS as one that is shared by many.
“We take a team approach,” he said.
“Kids don’t learn the way teachers teach. We teach the way they learn. And Mr. Cronk has implemented programs in the school to make that happen,” Ross said.
Getting involved with his students’ learning process is one area that Cronk believes promotes success.
“I decided I was going to be a person out there with my sleeves rolled up. Children are people, not just a number. And they want to know that they are important,” Cronk said.
“Schools are for the children — they weren’t created to make my life comfortable or my life easy,” he said.
For Ross, Cronk is not just an amazing educator — he’s also a mentor in his own profession.
“I aspire to be a principal — I want to mirror his philosophy, his view toward kids. Principal Cronk implements a positive approach to assist kids in being successful,” Ross said.
“He has installed many programs in the school that encourage children to not only stay out of trouble, but to strive to succeed because of the positive reinforcements and incentives in place,” Ross said.
When Cronk became an educator in 1969, he entered his profession with a fundamental plan — a belief system that has served him well for more than 40 years.
“My philosophy of education is it’s a big, wonderful adventure. Education should be exciting and fun. Children should be happy and teachers should be smiling. Education is both physical and mental. What I think about that hasn’t changed in 40 years,” Cronk said.
“I believe that kids now believe that they can do anything. Our job is to take our children and make leaders out of them so we put them in roles that make them lead. They’re not going to become leaders by accident — you have to be intentional at what you put them in,” he said.
Cronk considers winning district Principal of the year a professional honor — and if he wins at the state or national level it will not only be a career accomplishment, it will also be a dedication to a loved one’s memory.
“I’d like to win this for my dad — he died a couple of years ago. I didn’t get to see him the day he died, but I remember seeing him right before that,” Cronk said.
“He pulled the nurse over and asked ‘Do you know what my boy does? He’s a principal,’ my dad said beaming. If I could win this for anyone, I’d win it for him,” he said.