Hackettstown assistant principal Ryan Scheifler named new Madison athletic director
MADISON − Ryan Scheifler has wanted to be an athletic director since college. As a Dickinson senior, he did an internship with the assistant athletic director, learning "scheduling, field usage, budgeting, and most of all, being out there with the teams, making sure everything runs smoothly."
Scheifler was hooked. It took a little longer to become an AD, but Scheifler's long-term dream came true on Tuesday night when he was introduced by the Madison Board of Education.
Scheifler, a Hackettstown assistant principal, is one of at least three new Morris County athletic directors starting this fall. Darren D'Alconzo was introduced at Chatham High School on Aug. 9. Morris Knolls is currently searching for a replacement for Michael Bouroult, who is now the assistant principal for student discipline and activities.
Scheifler was a special-education teacher in Hackettstown, where he grew up, before transitioning to administration. He was the assistant varsity baseball coach for 20 years, and an assistant football coach for eight.
"This has always been something I aspired to do," said Scheifler, who played football and baseball while growing up in Hackettstown.
Scheifler will take over from Andrea Padelsky, who is becoming an assistant principal in Jefferson. Padelsky's transition leaves Mount Olive's Colleen Suflay as the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference's only female athletic director at a public NJAC school, and one of just four at all NJAC schools.
Madison principal David Dreschel said there were about 50 applicants. The hiring committee of administrators, teachers, coaches and a parent interviewed about half of them.
The committee was particularly pleased with Scheifler's experience "as an advocate for all kids," according to Drechsel. He presented a "program that develops young leaders ... and perpetuates that leadership to younger students," using the last period of the day to meet with students.
Scheifler will make $130,000. He is expected to start about Oct. 1.
"(He needs to) build relationships quickly with our kids, be someone they feel they can go to if they have concerns or issues," Drechsel said. "One of the great ways to find out if someone is successful is, when you walk down the hallway with them, or are outside at a game with them, how many students take the time to say hello or ask how they're doing. That shows he's been able to build relationships with them."
Ryan Scheifler and his wife Lindsay are raising four kids −12-year-old twin boys, a 9-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl − in Morris Township. He's already looking forward to taking the boys to football games, and introducing his daughter to "female athletes she can be inspired by."
"This sort of role is unlike any other in public education," Scheifler said. "You can make the position part of your social life. ... What really draws me to community is that hometown feel: Main Street USA right out there, a tight-knit community."
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Hackettstown's Ryan Scheifler named new Madison NJ athletic director