“I can already feel the warm, welcoming, and close-knit community here at Minnehaha Academy,” said Rob Liebhart, the new Algebra 1 and physics teacher.

Rob Liebhart / Photo by Danielle Hobbie

Liebhart is no new face to teaching. He’s taught math at De La Salle, Breck, and Saint Paul Academy. Liebhart also taught physics at the University of Minnesota for a few semesters.

A fascinating fact about Liebhart is that he has lived and taught in other countries including South Korea (teaching physics) and the United Arab Emirates (teaching math).

Liebhart and his wife, Stephanie, were teaching in international K – 12 schools with students who were often from other countries. This was because their parents were diplomats, hotel managers, ambassadors, or pilots, so most of them were away from what was considered to be their home countries.

Liebhart quickly found a connection with his students being away from his home country as well.

Liebhart is originally from central Pennsylvania and grew up in the city of York. He went to college in Pennsylvania as well.

In 2016, Liebhart and his wife decided to make a big change and move to Minnesota.

“We were looking for somewhere new, to start a new adventure,” Liebhart said.

With Liebhart and his wife both being teachers, they were looking for somewhere with good schools, an urban environment, and a relatively big city with recreation trails and public transit.

“Minneapolis ended up being a really natural fit for us,” Lieb- hart said.

Liebhart lives happily with his wife, Stephanie who teaches Spanish at Sanford middle school just down the street.

They don’t have any pets, due to allergies, but they often find themselves watching dogs for friends and colleagues.

Some of Liebharts’ hobbies include riding his bike and being outside in general. He also loves to watch sports like hockey, soccer, and college football.

Liebhart had some familiar faces when joining the Minnehaha community because he goes to church with some of the families.

“It gave me a nice intro to not coming in totally fresh, or totally brand new,” explained Liebhart.

He says he is looking forward to getting to know his colleagues and more of his students.

A piece of advice that Lieb- hart has for his new students is to be willing to try anything once. Whether it’s a change to your routine or normal habits, trying a new food, or drink. Or maybe even something you’re really nervous about doing, like going somewhere or talking to someone new.

“There’s a lot of things in my life that I won’t do again, but I’m glad that I did them once,” said Liebhart.