DARBY – Sean Barrere will tell you that his life is like night and day.

“Sometimes I can’t hardly believe how much I’ve changed in a year,” said the 20-year-old from Livingston. “It’s like we’re talking about two totally different people.”

A little over a year ago, Barrere was adrift. His plans for the military had gone astray. He didn’t have any plans for moving his life forward.

“I figured I might end up working some nowhere job,” he said.

That was before he enrolled in the Trapper Creek Job Corps Center’s natural resources program.

This spring he’s readying himself for a second summer’s stint on a U.S. Forest Service fire crew. And he’s already making plans to use his newfound firefighting skills to pay his way through college.

At the Bitterroot Valley-based job corps center, Barrere has become a student leader. He’s discovered a new confidence that allows him to step forward and help others improve their lives.

Barrere likes the way he feels when he knows he’s been able to help someone else.

“I feel like I’ve taken a huge leap forward with my life,” he said. “It’s like this has opened a thousand doorways that I didn’t even know existed.”

Barrere’s story is one that’s repeated over and over again at the center along the West Fork of the Bitterroot River.

Last week, the staff and students at Trapper Creek learned their successful efforts of training young men and women for positive life changes were recognized when the U.S. Forest Service Job Corps Executive Team honored their work with the national Center of the Year Award.

“Under the leadership of Center Director Linda Guzik, the Trapper Creek Job Corps Center has demonstrated exceptionally high performance and teamwork,” the award read. “The center has developed strong community partnerships and was statistically ranked as the No. 1 Forest Service Job Corps center in the nation.”

The award is a reflection of a dedicated team of staff and students who have created a positive learning culture with a commitment to excellence, Guzik said.

“We have brought in the right people and put them in the right positions,” she said. “Through that, we’ve created a positive culture for students and staff.”

That effort is paying high dividends.

Since last July, 159 students have graduated from the center. Of those, 92.3 percent have either found employment in their trades, enrolled in college or joined the military.

“Trapper Creek has done very well in meeting those goals,” said Barbara Ritter, the center’s career transition specialist. “Our goal is 90 percent. We’ve been able to exceed that by working with students right from the beginning and helping them set a career path that works for them.”

In the last program year, 86 percent of the center’s graduates found jobs in their field of training. Their pay averaged $11.21 an hour.

“That’s remarkable when you consider the challenges of the job market over the past couple of years,” Ritter said. “The success of our students is great to see.”

Part of that success is driven by the students who are willing to step into leadership roles, said Chris Feutrier, the center’s residential living manager.

Considering the fact there are as few as eight staff members on-site on weekends and evenings to manage up to 230 students, Feutrier said it’s essential to have leaders within the student body.

“If we didn’t have a sizable student leadership population that had completely bought into the lifestyle change that is Job Corps, this wouldn’t work,” he said.

Student leaders are taught integrity, the importance of hard work and the need to take care of one another.

“They learn that it’s important to do the right thing when no one is looking,” Feutrier said. “How do you wake up and work hard all day and always do your best, even when someone isn’t looking over your shoulder. … They learn that the good things in life come because you earn them.”

The program works with young people between 16 and 24 years of age to help them improve their lives through career, technical and academic training. There are 125 Job Corps centers in the county, with 28 of those being operated by the Forest Service.

“The students in Job Corps are no different than any other 16- to 24-year-olds out there,” Feutrier said. “You put them in the right situation and once they begin to believe in themselves, they will achieve.”

Armed with the skills that he’s learned at the center, Barrere is looking forward to that next step in his life.

“I had never really looked at myself as a leader before I came here,” he said. “My main goal now is to help out wherever I can. If I can help someone out in any way, then I think job well done.”