Special education teacher and military reservist Ryan Kral was deployed to Afghanistan just before the winter break.

San Ramon Valley Unified School District Superintendent Mary Shelton sent out news of this to teachers via email.

“Our thoughts are with Ryan as he embarks on this new chapter,” Shelton wrote in her email to the Cal High staff. “Come home safely, Ryan.”

Principal Mark Corti’s secretary Cindy Fischer said Kral is expected to return from Afghanistan in 18 months.

Kral, who has been in the military for six to 10 years, started teaching at San Ramon Valley High before coming to  Cal High seven years ago.

He has a very high position in the military, according to fellowing Cal teacher Sue Romoser.

“I think he might be a captain,” she said. “He has been to Central America for training and missions.”

This is the longest and most dangerous mission that Kral has gone on, Romoser said.

Kral taught a class of about 10 students with special needs. He helped severely handicapped students with all different levels of abilities.

His job differed each year as the needs of his students changed, Romoser said.  She said some years were more focused on academics while others were focused on improving behavior.

Romoser and fellow teacher Cheri Ng said they believe Kral has a fantastic sense of humor and can handle tough situations with ease.

“We absolutely love him!” said Romoser. “He’s so positive about everything.”

Not many people know about the challenges he faced on a day-to-day basis.

“[Kral] is the most underappreciated staff member at Cal,” said Ng, who was on the team of interviewers that hired Kral about six years ago.

“We loved him [when we first met him],” she said. “We wanted to hire him before any other school got him.”

The staff  held a luncheon on Dec. 19 in honor of Kral.

“We took a few minutes to celebrate him and what he was doing for his country,” said Fischer.