Lovell Recreation District and BOCES offer variety of programs

For many years the Lovell Recreation District and BOCES programs have provided services for the Lovell school district, students and community.
BOCES stands for Board of Cooperative Educational Services, and its purpose is to provide the school district and its patrons opportunities for educational services, including but not limited to post-secondary education, vocational-technical education and community education.
Big Horn County School District No. 2 leaders believe that education is literally a lifelong process and centers basically on the well-being of a family.
Part of the BGH2 School Board policy regarding “Community Educations & BOCES” states the following information:
“Public schools belong to the people of the community and play a major role in lifelong learning and formal education.
“Belief is that utilizing local resources can be harnessed to work toward the betterment of the entire community, and support that the community will receive a greater return from their taxes when we support community education, the families of the community and the community itself is strengthened.”
The school board policy goes on to say, “We believe that community education should serve the purposes of academic and skill development for children, youth and adults.”
“Furthermore, community education should attempt to meet the needs of the community for supervised recreation and vocational instruction, remedial, supplemental and enrichment education, and provide meeting places for social and civic groups.”
To support this philosophy, Big Horn County School District No. 2 has partnered with Northwest College to form BOCES.
At the conclusion of the last school year, Dani Weber was selected to be the coordinator for the non-profit organization.
“We are happy to have the opportunity to set BOCES apart to inform people and expand options for our community,” Weber said. “Anyone with specific skills or knowledge that would be interested in sharing their talents and teaching a course, we would be happy to hear from them.”
Opportunities to educate youth and adults in areas that will benefit their future with knowledge and skills are continually being considered for support by BOCES.
Behind the scenes, BOCES provides textbooks for dual enrollment and donated $1,500 to the Hyart Theatre and $150 to the North Big Horn Hospital’s Share-A-Stocking program.
The program also offers four scholarships of $500 each to high school seniors who are attending Northwest College and additional $500 scholarships for Certified Nursing Assistants, which is the bulk of the CNA training requirements.
Other programs and events that BOCES has sponsored or coordinated are: CDL certification at the high school, drivers’ education, gardening classes, adult and teen book clubs, welding classes, hunter education courses and other fun activities like the recent ropes course organized in cooperation with the Dedicated to Experimental Learning Through Adventure, or DELTA organization from NWC.
Big Horn County School District #2 Superintendent Doug Hazen participated in the ropes course and shared his experience at the monthly school board meeting on Monday evening.
“It was very thrilling,” Hazen said. “I hadn’t planned on participating and went for my children. But once they ‘roped’ me into doing it, I am so glad that I did.”
Coordinator Weber wants the community to know that they are there to support community education and enrichment from certification support in formal education down to just skills and hobbies.
LOVELL REC
Working alongside BOCES is the Lovell Recreation District run by director Kristine Henley.
The two organizations have always been separate entities but in the past only had one director overseeing both programs.
“It really is a lot for one person to manage,” Henley said. “We both have the same goals but are different in purpose.”
Currently underway with the Lovell Rec are programs like gymnastics, junior boys and girls basketball, men’s and women’s  league basketball, girls softball sign-ups and adult cornhole that is starting soon.
“We are still solidifying summer dates for all of the summer camps and swimming, but we expect to have those completed by the end of April so families can plan in advance if they want to participate in those things,” Henley said. “We encourage people to consider volunteering with any of our programs. We can always use help with sports.”
For both organizations, the best place to find out information about ongoing and upcoming events would be on their website, which is http://www.lovellrecandboces.com.
There, you can sign up to participate, pay for camps, register for classes or sign up for their monthly newsletter to always be in the know for activities.
Some of the highlights of summer activities from Lovell Rec are swimming lessons, basketball camps, wrestling camps, gymnastics, softball, soccer, speed camp, football camp, adult slow pitch softball, volleyball camp and more.
BOCES also has a fun summer lineup from an upgrade in the “Innovation Workshop” that is sponsored with the University of Wyoming to a new, giant mobile makerspace that will include 3D printers, laser cutters, woodworking tools, sewing and much more.
The DELTA club from NWC and BOCES will also host a Summer Adventure Club that will be for both kids and adults and include things outdoors like hiking and rafting.
They encourage members of the community to stop by their office located in the parking lot south of Lovell Elementary School.
Weber and Henley both love to receive community input and share a love for positive activities in our area.