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The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Alternative Careers in Teaching program is made for people taking a road a little less traveled.

People like Ben Klingberg.

Klingberg, a 31-year-old from the Chicago suburb La Grange Park, is midway through his first year teaching high school social studies at Fond du Lac High School. It’s his first teaching job, which he landed after completing the program under an unusual set of circumstances.

Before there was ever such a thing as a Mr. Klingberg’s classroom, there was a soldier in Afghanistan doing schoolwork for hours outside an on-base coffee shop—working hard to someday make that classroom dream a reality.

Ben Klingberg, a Captain in the U.S. Army National Guard, finished the ACT program through UWO in spring 2021.

A Captain in the U.S. Army National Guard, Klingberg was deployed overseas from September 2019 through March 2020. The last few months there he was both a soldier and a student—often having to play one role by day and the other by night.

“The strength of the ACT program, to me, is it enables an adult to go back and get those skills they need to be successful in the classroom,” Klingberg said. “I and many other graduates have skills, outside of just having lived on a campus for four years, that we can offer a classroom. I love that the program is an onboarding for that.”

Already with two college degrees and five years into a career, Klingberg realized months before his deployment it was time to make a change. He wanted to become a teacher, but going back to school for another bachelor’s degree didn’t make sense at his stage of life. He was now married and had become a father—and a second child was on the way. Going back to college like he’d done at age 18, wasn’t going to work.

That’s where the ACT program came in. He learned about the offering from UW Oshkosh’s College of Education and Human Service a few months into the deployment and began a year-and-a-half program in spring semester 2020. The program is designed for those on a non-traditional path and lays out a pathway to a teaching license in Wisconsin. It targets adult learners with a bachelor’s degree or higher looking to become middle or high school teachers.

“Ben was an ideal candidate for the ACT program,” said Michael Beeth, a professor in the teaching and learning department. “From my first interaction with him while he was stationed in Afghanistan, it was clear he knew teaching was his calling. He willingly learned all that was asked of him and his performance in the classroom was truly exceptional.”

Everyone has obstacles

With sometimes spotty internet and plenty of responsibilities beyond the demands of an instructor on the other side of the world, that first semester got off to a rocky start.

Michael Beeth

“I think my first class was going to be in January, starting my journey. So in my deployment we went from one part of Afghanistan to a second part of Afghanistan, and while that’s happening was when the first semester of the ACT program is starting. The first semester, there’s a mix-up for the days when the first class started and I ended up joining the class like a week after it started,” Klingberg said. “I ended up just having to lay out to (then program director) Dr. (Tammy) Ladwig, like, ‘This is why I’m late. I’m a soldier in Afghanistan, internet is not always reliable.”

From that point forward, the University was able to make accommodations to fit Klingberg’s unusual circumstances. Well, as soon as he got his network password situation squared away.

“I had to reset my password from overseas,” he remembered. “At the time you had to do it verbally over the phone, so in order to make a call to the states from Afghanistan you have to call a number that’s like a fort in the U.S. and they reconnect you. I called the student service desk at Oshkosh and I’d leave a voicemail saying, ‘Hey, I’m a soldier in Afghanistan and I don’t have a callback number.’ … And I’d receive an email to confirm my ID and again they’d need to speak to me over the phone.”

There were several emails and several after-hours voicemails—which he can laugh about now—but at the time it was stressful. Eventually the problem was solved and he went about his studies.

Klingberg credits the UWO faculty and staff who worked through many complications to help him reach his ultimate goal.

“I didn’t want to necessarily say, ‘Hey, I’m a soldier, give me help!’ but I needed help,” he said. “There were deadlines I just couldn’t meet or resources I just couldn’t access. I think at one point there was a textbook I needed for one of Dr. Ladwig’s classes, and she offered to mail it to me in Afghanistan. We were able to find a digital one, but Dr. Ladwig especially was super flexible and advocated for me.”

He came back to the U.S. in April 2020 and a little more than a year later finished the program.

Stops along the way

Before making the commitment to pursue a new career, Klingberg spent most of his time in the Midwest. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s in higher education leadership from Concordia University Chicago, where he also worked for five years with various roles in residence life and student conduct. He also spent several years playing dodgeball—yes, dodgeball—at its highest level, which included traveling around the country every few weeks and competing against teams from around the world.

When he started college, he wanted to become a chiropractor. As his education progressed, though, he realized the profession wasn’t what he imagined and he changed course. When he finished his undergrad in 2011, he followed a family tradition of joining the military. The National Guard seemed like the right fit, and a little more than a month after his graduation he began basic training.

In the ensuing years, Klingberg would get to do some teaching in different situations in the Army. Those experiences helped him recognize his interest in education.

“I had opportunities to teach in the Army and I just really, really enjoyed it,” he said. “Even when working later in higher ed (at Concordia)—I loved getting to know students, I loved building relationships with students and seeing their progress, their growth.”

Making connections

Even after returning to the U.S., unavoidable National Guard commitments sometimes emerged that made coursework a challenge. In  summer 2020, the social justice protests and civil disturbances that followed the deaths of George Floyd in Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky led to Klingberg having to head to Chicago on very short notice. He had to email his instructors, saying “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get this homework done—basically, I’ll see you in a few days.”

Then again during his student teaching placement at Green Bay Preble High School a year ago he was asked to help with the initial rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in Illinois. So close to the finish line, though, he was able to put in a request to not have the semester interrupted and it was granted. He finished at Preble, and with the ACT program overall, in June.

Tammy Ladwig

Three months later, his wife gave birth to their second child—shortly after he began his teaching career in Fond du Lac. Needless to say, there’s hardly a dull moment for Klingberg and his family.

“I knew I wanted to be a teacher,” he said. “If you have a goal in mind, you do whatever it takes to get there.”

Tammy Ladwig, the ACT program director at the time, said Klingberg had a multitude of qualities that are important in education—and then some.

“He is positive, compassionate, has a great sense of humor and a grounding in big institutions from his experience in working in higher ed and in the military that helps him navigate these big machines in a way that is beneficial for all,” she said. “He is warm and approachable and friendly and students really are drawn to him and love being around him. What more could you ask for?”

That connection to students is something that, now as his first year hits the home stretch, he’s enjoying greatly.

“I’m at a high school that is very diverse, so I get to hear a lot of different stories. Students are coming from a lot of different perspectives and I really enjoy that piece,” he said.

“The ACT program prepared me. I feel great. I love teaching. I feel like I’m in the right career.”

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