The Jefferson City Public Schools athletic department took another step toward more stability Tuesday, announcing Chad Rizner as the Activities Director for Jefferson City High School and Robert Ndessokia as the Activities Director of Capital City High School, effective July 1.
The announcement comes six weeks after former Missouri softball coach Ehren Earleywine was named the district AD.
After having interim ADs for nearly a year, JCPS has a foundation in place.
"We certainly were phased with an interesting situation ending up in June without a head AD and having Tim (Thompson) and Dennis (Licklider) step in to fill that role," Rizner, who's served as an assistant AD since last May, said. "Those two have been great. A lot of what I've learned this year have been from those guys.
" I think having some continuity and having some stability with both Robert and I and our administrative assistants and adding Ehren to the mix, I think we're in a lot better place than we were a year ago."
Ndessokia has also been an assistant AD since May.
"I was really excited," Ndessokia said. " I still like the current role that I'm doing, but that's one of my goals is to become an AD for a high school. It hasn't really sunk in quite yet."
Rizner has worked for JCPS for 21 years, the past seven as a Student Council Advisor. He said that role helped lead him to taking the AD position.
"We tell the kids to step out of their comfort zone and if you see a need then do something to address it," Rizner said. "I think that those two things apply to this job and to me.
"I think I do have the experience to do a good job. Certainly a little bit out of my comfort zone. The school had a need for somebody to do it and I think those two principles that I've preached to kids for so long kind of resonated with me and led me to apply for the job."
Ndessokia enters his role as Capital City AD in a different situation.
He was a coach and AD at Lange Middle School in Columbia for four years. This step allows him to build something in the city he grew up in.
"It's a unique opportunity," the former Jay said of taking a job at a new school. "It's very exciting, just building something from scratch and kind of molding it to the way you have a vision for. Of course it's not just going to be me. It'll be the coaches, the faculty and staff, and the administration and the community."
And Ndessokia has the benefit of having been around the addition of Battle High School in Columbia.
"I was a coach at Hickman at the time of the split, so I kind of understand how things go," Ndessokia said. "Kind of understanding that background I think helped me coming in with different ideas on how things may go through a transition."