Rachel Hall-Schlachta, born in New York City, always had an interest in sports as either a participant or a spectator. As any New Yorker would be she grew up an avid fan of both the New York Yankees and New York Mets, two teams she roots for even today! While growing up she participated in softball, bicycle riding, and tennis. In addition to being an honor student she played on her high school softball team and also managed to work part time after school.
Rachel attended Hunter College in New York City on a Regents scholarship and participated on the college’s fencing team. She was elected to Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics honor society, the same discipline she achieved her undergraduate degree in. During her college years she worked part time in a secretarial capacity to an eye doctor in Manhattan.
After college, she was able to combine her knowledge of physics, math, and computers and became an exhibit salesperson for a nationally known New York based trade show company that produced shows in the computer and construction industries. In less than a year, Rachel was promoted to exhibit sales manager and oversaw the telemarketers and exhibit registration staff. The scope of her trade shows grew to include kitchen and bath industry, travel, and banking/mortgages. Also during this time period her interests in marketing and advertising began to develop.
Although Rachel began studying for her MBA at Manhattan College with a concentration in marketing, the travel schedule of the tradeshow conflicted with the time needed to be in class and be able to complete all assignments effectively, as she was traveling 30 percent of the year throughout continental North America.
During this time, Rachel still stayed active by playing softball on her company’s team. In addition, she continued to take horseback riding lessons and was able to go horseback riding through southern Ireland-an experience she still remembers fondly. Shortly thereafter, she married David Schlachta, a field engineer and member of the Coast Guard. The couple began their life together in Middlesex County New Jersey.
After taking a few years off to begin her family, when Rachel was in the position to resume working full-time she gave serious thought to what she could do. Over the years, the Hall-Schlachta family moved to Mercer County. After having served as a Sunday school teacher in the Yardville Presbyterian Church, she felt that her calling was truly working with young people. In order to make sure this was going to be a practical career field for someone who never gave a second thought to teaching, she substituted in various school districts throughout southern New Jersey before becoming a certified teacher.
In 1995, the family moved further south to Gloucester County New Jersey. At that time, she was determined to become a teacher and took the necessary steps to obtain her certification. 2001 was a crucial year since; she began as an adjunct at Cumberland County College teaching developmental math classes. Rachel change districts and that September joined the Buena Regional School District where she taught on a middle school and high school level. Currently, a business education teacher in Buena Regional High School, she is responsible for teaching: Retail Marketing, Accounting, Computer Applications, Financial Literacy, and Sports Marketing. Rachel has written several and received several grants from Raytheon, Prudential Insurance, and Discover Card to purchase needed technology to keep her students current.
Realizing that in order to teach these classes she need needed to have her business skills updated, she completed her Master’s of Science in Management through Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey. Keeping up to date with the technological advances is of prime importance to Rachel who has taken online classes through the University of South Dakota and plans to pursue more classes in order to perfect her craft.
Every year, she takes her classes to either a professional or semi-professional sporting event. Her classes have been featured on NBC 10, the Philadelphia affiliate of NBC for their academic achievements. Interfacing with marketing managers of professional and semiprofessional teams, who visit the class on a rotating basis, has proven to be helpful since it has allowed the students understand the implications of a sports marketing career and encourage the proper steps needed to achieve that goal. As the DECA advisor, several of her students have gone on to participate in regional, state, and national competitions. Also her students participate in the New Jersey Consumer Bowl-a statewide competition that concentrates on the legal aspects of consumerism.
Still active, Rachel kayaks and goes boating with her husband. Her daughter shares her love of tennis and competed on her high school’s tennis team. Recently, she has taken up yoga and has participated in local marathons. In winter, she looks forward to snowshoeing and as warmer weather approaches she can be found hiking through the many trails in New Jersey with her dog Salem.
