Mr. Schieffer is the new Director of Alumni giving at Salesianum. While he may be a new addition to the faculty here at Salesianum, the school is in no way new to him.  Being a 2009 graduate of Salesianum, he is excited to be back at the school he loves.  I had the opprotunity to interview him, in which he offered valuable insight into his job and experience at Salesianum so far.

Where did you go to college?

University of Alabama

What got you interested in working at Salesianum?

I graduated in 2009 and I actually did a lot of fundraising phone calls when I was here after football practice. I always appreciated Salesianum. It has had a big impact on my life. My brother, my dad, and my uncles all went here, so working here has always been a dream of mine. When I found out there was a job in fundraising open, I jumped at the chance. I’m happy to be back. It is a great place to be.

What has been your favorite part of Salesianum since you have been back?

Reconnecting with old faculty and staff that I had. A lot of teachers I had are still here and reconnecting with them and seeing that they’re still here and loving it is really great to see. And also just being back in the building. I haven’t been here in a few years. When the classes started and the bell rung i just felt it. You know, the bell rings and you feel it every day. I felt it and was like o my gosh, I’m back here. Also, learning the mission again and being in the community for sure.

You work with fundraising. What is it you do exactly?

So my role is to work with alumni, parents, and friends of the school who want to give to the annual fund for Salesianum and any way they can better the school. So my job is to reach out to current young alumni and distinguished alumni and just be a face for them. I am going to be traveling a little bit on the road meeting them all and raising money for the school to show people that there is a face behind the fundraising unit. That is my main goal.

What are you most excited about for this year?

I would say, just being a part of the school again. I love Salesianum and being back here is the most exciting part for me, but also just being involved on a great team. There is a great group of faculty and staff that is here. I am just excited to get started.

What are some of the biggest changes that you have realized since you’ve last been here?

Biggest changes would have to be: first the athletic center wasn’t here when I was here. That was built right after I graduated. The house system was something that I was looking to do when I was here. I thought that it would be a really good thing for the school. The warm weather dress code, of course. That’s one of the things that I wished we had. I mean, just the technology updates and building updates. Its incredible what the school looks like now than what it did when I was there. Technology wise, the iPhone had just come out when I was a sophomore in high school. We didn’t have laptops. The library wasn’t updated. Just the technology and all that. It’s incredible what it’s like now and it really prepares you for college, that’s for sure.