B.O.C.E.S. #1 History
Uinta B.O.C.E.S. #1 has been serving the educational needs of our community for over 40 years! While our name may have changed a few times since then, our dedication to educate, empower and enrich the lives of the people in our community has not.
We began in 1981 as a collaboration between the newly formed Western Wyoming College Evanston office and a group of local citizens who formed The CORE (Community Organization for Resources in Education) Group to help address the educational needs of our community that arose out of the rapid growth caused by the energy boom. By 1984, we had outgrown the use of an office at the Wyoming State Hospital and using classrooms at local schools, leading to a partnership between UCSD #1 and Western Wyoming College that created Lifelong Learning Center. This allowed us to move into a larger building and provide even more programs and services, including the Evanston Adult Learning Center.
In January 1986, Lifelong Learning Center started the year in our own building at 3rd and Summit, where we stayed until 2004 when we moved into the old Chevron building on the corner of Cheyenne and Overthrust Road, allowing us to expand even more. 1986 was a big year for us, as it also saw us officially forming under the BOCES agreement between Western Wyoming College and UCSD #1, adding a board of directors, more educators and more programs. Since our beginning, we have increased the services in our Adult Education Center, created programs from scratch to help underserved members of our community, added our Industrial Safety Training Center, and provided higher education opportunities through area colleges and much more. We still firmly believe in the closing words of that first Western Wyoming Evanston Official Report; “What has happened is just the beginning, not the end. We have done much, but there is more to do.” We are proud to have been a part of helping Evanston become an even better place to live and grow and will continue to educate, empower and enrich its citizens for years to come!