Seventeen-year-old Zachary Falk draws school spirit from leadership roles.

Leadership is something Falk naturally gravitated to when he enrolled at Stillwater Christian School in seventh grade.

“I think my definition of school spirit comes from understanding of what has been given to me individually from God and what I need to give back in return,” Falk said. “I think it comes from the school itself that creates school spirit, which is shown through the action of the kids, I think”

The graduating Stillwater senior has taken on a number of leadership positions throughout his high school career. This year, he served as class treasurer (for the second year), vice president of the National Honor Society, student council spiritual life counselor, soccer team captain and tenor section leader in choir. 

Additionally, he participates in the select chamber choir, golf, track, basketball — and he works at Sykes’ Market.

“I feel the want and desire to give back to the school by competing in extracurricular things and taking pride in the education and the uplifting and godly character that has been given to me,” Falk said.

Falk saw his role as soccer team captain as an opportunity to mentor teammates.

“We do a lot of odd jobs for the coach, but one of our main goals is encouragement of freshmen and sophomores and bringing them up in the rules of our school, leadership, spirituality and ability,” Falk said.

Varsity soccer tryouts were a lesson in patience and understanding this year for Falk, who didn’t doubt he would make the team. 

“But I practiced with the lower half of the guys on and off for the first few days,” Falk said. “I thought, ‘What’s going on here, have I messed up bad?’ I started getting worried. I went with it, played and encouraged them. Later, one of the assistant coaches pulled me aside. ‘We’re not practicing you with younger guys because you’re not going to make the varsity team.’ He said, ‘You are there because you’re an excellent encourager and you can lift these kids up to their potential,’” Falk said.

The experience set the tone for the rest of the year.

“It set my goal, no pun intended, for that year in soccer, to be an encourager,” Falk said.

When he’s not on the field or in the classroom, Falk helps organize pep rallies put on by the student council.

“All the little kids come — we’re only about a school of 300 people so we can fit in the gym,” Falk said. “We do fun things to get the kids excited, so the school spirit doesn’t start in high school, it starts in kindergarten and it is portrayed by the faculty and the students in the high school and they just love it. They cheer like crazy.”  

As a spiritual counselor on the student council, he arranges speakers for chapel or prepares the day’s message.

Reflecting on the past four years, Falk said he would like to be remembered as a spiritual person and a source of encouragement.

“I actually have thought of that a lot — what will people remember about me?” Falk said. “The biggest thing and the most important thing to me is the same thing I want to leave behind me, and that’s that I love my God and my savior first and foremost, and I hope that’s what people see when I leave.”

His advice to underclassmen is to not give up — even in senior year when apathy may start to set in.

In addition to school spirit, Falk is driven by a higher spirit as he lays out future plans to enter seminary school and become a pastor. The notion came to him when he recalled one day when three friends said on three different occasions he would make a good pastor.

“I was confused by that. I really hadn’t had an inkling to that. I was wanting to be a lawyer or business management student,” Falk said. 

Later that night, he attended a youth group meeting and the message solidified his decision. 

“The message was on not choosing your career based on how much money you will receive,” Falk said.

Before seminary school, Falk will attend Flathead Valley Community College to complete his general education classes and transfer to the University of Montana to obtain a communications degree. His ambition is to achieve a Ph.D. in theology. Years of education will give him time to reflect if being a pastor is still his calling. 

“I still plan to go to seminary, maybe take two years off to work before,” Falk said.

Stillwater Principal Ted Clark has been his basketball coach since eighth grade and said the outgoing and positive student has a bright future.

“Zach is well-liked and respected by his peers and his teachers. He pours his whole heart into every area of his life,” Clark said in an email to The Daily Inter Lake. “Zach is a very bright student with an inquisitive mind.” 

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.