Tim Heltzel was born in raised just an hour and half north west of Compass Academy. After a full childhood of running through the woods, and following the path his mother left years before, Tim began working with people to share his knowledge and love of the outdoors.
In his early years as an educator, Tim instructed Red Cross swim lessons and coached the younger groups of the town swim team. After high school, and while studying Geology at James Madison University, Tim led cave tours at Endless Caverns in New Market, Virginia, teaching visitors about the huge unseen natural forces at work underground.
To satisfy his wanderlust, and after graduating with a bachelor’s degree, Tim headed off to Fayetteville, West Virginia to sleep in a tent and guide rafts on the New River where he taught visitors about the river from a geological perspective, and occasionally gave some involuntary swim lessons. The time he spent surrounded by serious outdoor types showed him the path to his next destination as a outdoor educator in the Adirondack Mountains, the coast of Cape Cod, the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Bernardino Mountains.
In the offseason Tim lead groups of high schoolers on multi-week conservation work camping trips to remote parts of east coast. Building trails, structures and community in national state parks.
Later, Tim went on to pursue teaching credentials through the career switcher program. Before he knew it, he had 175 middle school students under his watch at Henley Middle School in Crozet, Virginia. As a teacher, Tim reconnected with his college friend Brie, and they later married.
Tim took his environmental passion to work as a Solar contractor in the Charlottesville area while remodeling his family home in Nortonsville and raising two children. In August of 2024 Tim, Brie, and family, Dale Robin and unborn Vern, packed up the house and moved to Big Island Hawaii where they are finding their next steps as a family of five.
Tim is excited to be at Compass Academy for the summer, bringing his teaching, conservation and team building experience, and having a ton of fun along the way!
