The St. Robert’s middle school math teacher Mrs. Kinateder just left for maternity leave following the birth of her second child and first son. While she is on her maternity leave spending her time with her newborn, there will be a new math teacher named Mr. Rohlinger taking over for her. Mr. Rohlinger lives in Whitefish Bay with his wife and son. In his spare time, he likes to do a lot of activities with his family such as swimming, canoeing, water skiing, and snow skiing.

Mr. Rohlinger decided he wanted to become a teacher because as he explains,“Like you guys, I had some great math teachers in high school who inspired me to help [students learn].” Seventh grader Flannery talks about how she is excited to learn with Mr. Rohlinger in math:  “I think he is really fun to learn from because he actually makes math fun!” Mr. Rohlinger has not only made an impact on Flannery, but also many others due to his effective teaching skills. Mr. Rohlinger explained that he likes the kids that he teaches, and Evie in seventh grade feels the same way about Mr. Rohlinger too: “I think that he is really funny, nice, and outgoing.” Not only does Evie agree that Mr. Rohlinger is a good teacher, but a lot of seventh graders also agree.

After deciding that he wanted to teach, Mr. Rohlinger worked at multiple schools. Mr. Rohlinger explains, “ [I have taught at] St. Nessan Limerick in Ireland, and I subbed for a lot of different schools for Milwaukee Public Schools.” When Mr. Rohlinger lived in Ireland for ten years, he worked at St. Nessan Limerick for two years. Now, St. Nessan’s has merged into a new school called St. John Bosco Community College. Although he has taught at public schools previously, Mr. Rohlinger prefers teaching in Catholic schools due to his experiences of teaching in Ireland, which confirmed that he loved the Catholic school environment.

Although Mr. Rohlinger likes teaching here so far, there are some challenges that he will have to deal with as he attempts to bring math to them middle school. Some people think that Mr. Rohlinger needs to be careful about the loudness of the middle school in math, which often results in kids misbehaving. This may not be the case in all middle school math classes, but Mr. Rohlinger explains that “There are some classes that have good behavior, and there are some classes that misbehave. Although this might be true, I love all of the kids I teach in this school.”  Also, there are some things that Mr. Rohlinger is looking forward to at Holy Family. Many people might not know that he is a practicing Catholic who loves his faith so when the school goes to mass on Fridays, he loves to pray and watch the school grow in communal prayer.

In conclusion, Mr. Rohlinger has come to St. Robert eager to teach, and while he works to understand how the middle school of St. Robert behaves, he is helping many get excited about math. When people see Mr. Rohlinger in the hallways, they see a funny, smart, and kind teacher who cares about his students, which is exactly what the middle school likes about him. Although he will only be here for a few months, Mr. Rohlinger is a teacher no one will ever forget!