This has been Mr. Scheele’s 35th year of teaching and coaching various different sports. Scheele is currently the head coach of the girls’ track team. “I participated [in track] when I was in high school,” said Scheele. “I had a lot of success, and I went to college on a full ride scholarship and got my teaching degree.”

“I’ve always wanted to be a coach, since I started prepping for my teaching degree,” said Scheele. “It just made sense.”

“[Scheele] gets really into what he’s doing,” said sophomore Kat Dombroski. “He’s really passionate about it.”

The team had a state champion high jumper last year, and has been training for this year’s state meet since before winter break.

“Scheele taught me that everything’s up to yourself, you can’t depend on other people to make you run fast, to be there, to coach you and motivate you… It’s all up to yourself,” said sophomore Susanna Sharples-Gordon. “You can be as good as you want to be.”

Scheele said there have been only minor changes since he was in track as a kid and now.

“I used to run on asphalt… Now we run on rubber track,” said Scheele.  “The shoes that you’re used to [today] didn’t exist. Everything was leather, your shoes would get wet and they’d dry like a piece of concrete and cut your feet,” said Scheele. “So the equipment has changed for the better.”

“You would think that with that many years there’d be  major changes, but really there haven’t been any major changes as far as coaching strategies and a few rules that have changed.

“It’s exciting, it feels good, and I love what I teach,” said Scheele.