Liechty moving on to be superintendent in northeast Iowa

MT. PLEASANT — Mt. Pleasant Community High School Principal Todd Liechty is leaving to become superintendent of two northeast Iowa school districts, Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock and Nashua-Plainfield school districts.

Liechty has spent most of his career at Mt. Pleasant. He is a 1979 graduate of the high school and returned as a biology teacher and associate principal. He became principal in 2006.

Now Liechty will be starting a new chapter in his life. Since his college days, he knew he wanted to eventually become a superintendent. However, once his children started doing activities and becoming active in the community he realized that he could not step away to take classes.

“When my kids were in activities I could never swap going to classes for my superintendent license for seeing their activities, so when they were done I thought I was too old, that my time had come and gone,” Liechty said.

However, one day Mt. Pleasant Superintendent John Henriksen, on their way to state softball, encouraged Liechty to get his superintendent’s license so that he too could become a superintendent.

“Mr. Henriksen told me to get my superintendent’s license, and he proved to be right because those two districts decided to hire an old guy,” Liechty said.

Liechty is nervous and excited to move on to his new role in the Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock and Nashua-Plainfield school districts. He leaves with memories of the relationships and ties to the community he has here.

“I will get to know the people there, and they will get to know me. It’s going to be a whole new world for me, but I’ve always been the adventurous type so it’s going to be fun,” Liechty said.

“The people that I’ve met there are outstandingly nice people, so that made me feel better during my interview is that there were that many nice people in one place,” he added.

Liechty is happy to hand the baton to current Assistant Principal Mike Wilson, who he has been working with for most of his tenure as principal.

“You always hope that someone who works with you has a desire to move up to the top spot. So that they will learn from you and do some things better, but also knowing the history and having the relationships,” Liechty said.

Wilson is ready to accept the responsibility and move on to a new area and grow.

“Well I feel very fortunate to get this opportunity. I’ve been in Mt. Pleasant since 2000, and I’ve learned from a great principal and good leader. So it’s just the next logical step for me, It’s a growth opportunity, and it’s something I’m excited to do,” Wilson said.

Liechty will leave behind his home and the relationships he has built in Mt. Pleasant.

“I will miss the relationships that go with it, and the people in the community because that’s a comfortable place right now,” he said. “I’m leaving those behind, and I’ll just have to do it again.”

Liechty is confident that the students and staff will persevere and do things better than ever before.

Liechty has one last thing that he will say to his students that came during the rough past year.

“Panther on!”