Walking around at the high school, you are sure to see many new faces. Some of those new faces are new teachers who have joined the MHS community this year. Get familiar with some of these new teachers with the interviews below.

Kevin Kleindl

What is your name? What subject do you teach? How many years have you been teaching and where?

My name is Kevin Kleindl. I teach music theory and three of the bands here at Minnetonka, and this is my fifteenth year teaching. Prior to coming to Minnetonka, I taught nine years in Hutchinson, Minnesota and five years out in South Dakota.

What or who inspired you to teach?

It was two people. One of them was my middle school band director. He was the one who really hooked me onto liking music, band music and jazz band music specifically. [Then in] my junior year, I had a band teacher. She was only there for one year. She just kind of pushed me, and she made me work harder, which actually made me enjoy it more. I saw how good of a teacher she was, so I wanted to be like her.

What are your favorite topics to teach and why?

I really like teaching music theory. One of the things with music theory is that I’ve never had it as a high schooler, so when I got into college, I was really behind my peers who had [music] theory in high school. [That made me] really work extra hard, but I liked the analytical side of it, and just kind of the very functionality of it, which was kind of cool and kind of nerdy, but I enjoyed it. And then [about] just teaching music in general, I just love music, all kinds of music.

Give a fun fact about yourself.

I’ve played in four different countries: Austria, Czech Republic, Canada, and here in the US.

Give a fun fact not about yourself.

Beetoven’s Symphony No. 3, the Eroica Symphony, was originally dedicated to Napoleon until Napoleon did something Beetoven didn’t like, and then he crossed off his symphony dedication to Napoleon and dedicated it to someone else.

What is your favorite piece of media right now?

Right now I’m just trying to survive the first couple weeks of teaching, but I guess the most recent thing I’ve been watching lately. I’ve been making my way through the Star Wars series in chronological order. I’ve gone from the very beginning, including the animated series and all that stuff. 

If you could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

I think for me musically, I would love to sit down and have a meal with Leonard Bernstein. He was a conductor [and] composer. He conducted the New York Philharmonic for a long time. And he composed some awesome music, like the West Side Story soundtrack and all of that stuff. I think I would like to pick his brain about that.

What cookie would you be and why?

I would be a snickerdoodle, because I love snickerdoodles.

Julia Heer

What is your name? What subject do you teach? How many years have you been teaching and where?

My name is Julia Heer. I am teaching chemistry and biology, and this is year seven of teaching, but year one at Minnetonka. I have taught at Park Center in Osseo, Brooklyn Center High School, and Los Alamos High School in New Mexico.

What or who inspired you to teach?

I think it was my own teachers in high school who made me realize that it could be something fun to do, and that gave me ideas as to what I looked for in a teacher and something to aspire to as a teacher myself.

What are your favorite topics to teach and why?

I like teaching reactions and stoichiometry because it is all solving puzzles.

Give a fun fact about yourself.

I have taken thirteen years of French in my life.

Give a fun fact not about yourself.

In the beginning of their lives, babies gain about one ounce every day, so they are a great strength training tool.

What is your favorite piece of media right now?

A book I read recently that was very interesting is called Stolen Focus. It’s about how our ways of consuming news and technology are leading to us not being able to focus for long periods of time. [It discusses] the theories around whether that is true and what the mechanisms might be for why it’s happening.

If you could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

[I’d choose] Marie Curie. It would be interesting to learn about the person who did so much in the field of radioactivity.

What cookie would you be and why?

I would be an almond chocolate chip cookie because that is my favorite type of cookie.