Stereotypically, when some people think of football players, the usual thoughts that pop up are of strong and athletic cavemen rather than academic scholars. Senior Zach Gale contradicts most of this. He is strong and athletic, but unlike the stereotype, he is also academic and participates in the school orchestra.

Gale has played the violin since he was in the first grade, has All-Stated in orchestra every year of high school, and is auditioning for All-Northwest this year. In order to All-State in orchestra, the musicians must audition and be chosen above others in the state to be invited to play with the best in the state. Fellow orchestra player and friend of Gale, senior Behley Malkuch also gave some insight on another lesser known extracurricular activity that Gale participates in. Malkuch explained there is one thing many people do not know about Gale: “He is an entrepreneur, he owns his own lawn mowing business.”

In addition to devoting his time to practicing the violin, Gale has taken two advanced placement classes to help him achieve his dream job. The classes Gale took were AP US History and AP Government and Politics. Gale has a love of history and is currently interning with Sheridan Junior High School history teacher Tim Cooper. “My dream job would have to be being a history teacher,” said Gale. He plans to go to college for secondary education with history as his subject area, and while he has yet to choose a college, he has been looking at Montana State University and Black Hills State University. Sheridan High School AP US History teacher and football coach Kevin Rizer said, “I think that Zach will make a great history teacher. He has the right attitude and qualities and he certainly has the passion. With him what you see is what you get and what I see is a hardworking leader who will do well in life.”

When asked what his favorite high school memory is, Gale quickly responded, “Definitely winning state last year.” Gale has also All-Conferenced, which means his team won the conference championship, in football and was team captain for the week during one of the first weeks of school. He has played since his freshman year.

Outside of school and extracurricular activities, Gale enjoys hunting and hanging out with his friends in his free time. In the future Gale would like to live in Sheridan or someplace like it or just live in the mountains by himself. Based on his current appearance, many could easily imagine Gale living in the mountains-–he’s got the beard and and physique. If anyone doesn’t know, he could be a mountain man, Gale verified, “One of my most prominent talents is that I can grow a very nice beard.” While most high schoolers try (and fail) at growing a beard, Gale has a surprisingly well-kept beard that is not patchy like the ones that many youths grow. The only problem with his mountain man plan is that Gale cannot stand snakes, so he may need to carefully plan out where in the mountains to live.

Zach is the son of Matt and Nadine Gale.