Sharon grew up in rural eastern Colorado and said she would never live on the eastern plains because there was so much of the world to see! Well…that took a direct turn when she graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a Secondary English Teaching Degree and started teaching English at a K-12 school with only 40 high school students. The school was located in the middle of nowhere and provided teacher housing. It was a very close-knit, family-focused community. Everyone pitched in with teaching, sponsoring classes, and coaching athletics. Sharon was then given the opportunity to leave the Woodlin School on a Teacher-On-Special-Assignment (TOSA) to teach writing at East Central BOCES. The BOCES serves 20 rural school districts in eastern Colorado that covers over 10,000 square miles. What started as a one-year commitment turned into twenty years at the BOCES.

Over the twenty years, Sharon obtained her Masters in Reading, worked with the Alternative Teaching Program, and became the Staff Developer and an Impact Team Coach. Sharon shifted the focus of professional development by going into the schools and working with teams of teachers instead of expecting them to come to the BOCES. This work was never done before. We started with 4 Impact Teams, and when Sharon left, there were nearly 300 teams in all 20 school districts. After 25 years in education, Sharon decided to devote more time to family and community.

For five years, Sharon did not work professionally but kept very busy with family activities and time in the community. In June 2024, Sharon became the Director of Trades Pathways at Morgan Community College. She enjoys promoting everything in the trades world, building business relationships, and supporting the Career Technical Education (CTE) work. Sharon is married to Dave Vorce, and they have two children, Laura (20) and James (18). In addition to their professional jobs, they have a dryland farm and raise wheat and millet.