Zach Levitt, 31, of Columbia Falls, is on his way to becoming a high school history teacher.

Levitt will graduate this semester from Flathead Valley Community College and plans to attend University of Montana in the fall to complete a teaching degree.

Yet his path to college after graduating from Columbia Falls High School wasn’t direct, but meandered. Along the way, he gained a variety of skills and the Montana Campus Compact’s Montana Athletes In Service Award.

After high school graduation, Levitt went to Phoenix to attend automotive mechanic school. Although he graduated from the school’s year-long program, Levitt ultimately decided he didn’t want to work on newer vehicles.

“I was originally wanting to go to learn how to restore older vehicles,” he said.

Levitt still holds on to that goal as a future hobby.

“I just bought a ’64 Pontiac Tempest,” Levitt said, adding that he’s just waiting for more time and money to fix it up.

Following automotive school, the native Montanan returned to the Flathead. He went into construction for awhile and worked as a bartender for six years before he began to contemplate going back to school.

“I just needed a change, so I did a little bit of subbing,” Levitt said.

The experience solidified in his mind the idea of teaching as a career.

He said history is his favorite subject because it continues to impact the present and future.

“Even though it’s all in the past it can change from different perspectives and you’re constantly learning different parts of it,” Levitt said.

Levitt knew that he wanted to teach at the high school level with the intention of becoming a sports coach.

“My senior year at high school I helped coach our swim team in Columbia Falls. I swam and then I was also a coach for the younger kids,” he said.

While bartending for Columbia Bar owner and Columbia Falls High School girls basketball coach Cary Finberg, he was asked to serve as an assistant coach. Levitt took the opportunity. He said he has loved basketball since he was very young.

“I’ve known [Finberg] most of my life and I had the opportunity to work under him and learn from him, so I went with it,” Levitt said.

This will be Levitt’s last year serving as an assistant girls basketball coach before he moves to Missoula for school.

In addition to coaching, Levitt has volunteered serving meals to those in need at the Community Kitchen and helped with the community college’s annual Red White and Blue Run. He is also very involved in the college’s intramural sports.

From basketball to dodgeball, soccer to volleyball, Levitt keeps active.

“I like most sports. Anything that I try that I can pick up fairly easy I enjoy,” Levitt said.

His participation in athletics and community service hours is what led to his nomination for the Montana Campus Compact’s Montana Athletes In Service Award. He was one of 15 college student athletes around the state to be presented with the honor by members of the Montana Campus Compact Board and Gov. Steve Bullock.

Despite the recognition, Levitt is very low-key about his accomplishments.

Levitt said he is looking forward to his second summer working in Glacier National Park as part of the campground maintenance crew.

“It’s pretty busy, but pretty nice. I get to drive up to Avalanche Lake every day,” he said.

He is also looking forward to the future, hoping to travel abroad with his girlfriend, who is studying to be a French teacher. After the pair earn their teaching degrees, they hope to live in France and teach English for a year or more, he said.

Eventually, Levitt said he wouldn’t mind returning to the Flathead Valley, where he was born and raised, to make a career and life.

“Now that I’ve lived away from the valley I’m fine with living here and traveling other places. It’s home,” Levitt said.

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