Christine Haymond - President/Co-Founder

CHRISTINE HAYMOND works for the Stark County Educational Service Center as a consultant, trainer and resiliency coach with CARE Team and the Trauma and Resiliency Education Collaborative. From1985 to 2013, she designed and taught in classrooms for children with social, emotional and behavior challenges in grades 1-12 in both Ohio and Texas. While teaching middle school and high school in she helped plan and organize clubs and activities for students that focused on self awareness, equity, tolerance and resilience. In 2002 she was recognized as the Franklin B. Walter Outstanding Special Educator for the state of Ohio. 

For five summers, Chris was part of Dr. Jane Nelsen’s International Positive Discipline Think Tanks in Utah and California. For seven years, she wrote a monthly column in the Canton (Ohio) Repository, sharing stories about the joys and heartbreaks of the teaching profession. She has authored/co-authored four graduate courses for educators through Walsh University and Communicate Institute Training and Development (Positive Discipline in the Classroom, Strength Based Interventions for at Risk Students, Courage for the Discouraged; Bridging the Gap Between Educators and Challenging Students, and Modeling Resilience in the Classroom).
 

After retiring, Christne wrote a book with two former students - See my Spark, Hear my Voice; Tips for Teachers, Counselors, Social Workers, Clergy and Anyone Who Cares About Kids Like Us. A career highlight was being invited to keynote with four former students at a Reclaiming Youth International/Circle of Courage conference in Rapid City, South Dakota in 2012.

From 2000-2008 Christine was invited to be part of First Lady Hope Taft’s initiative to introduce Resiliency education into the Ohio prison system and volunteered with ArtSafe, a strength-based program for incarcerated men, women and youth in Ohio prisons. She served on the board of Along the Way Ministries and is co-founder of the non-profit GRACE Project which stands for Growing Resilience in All Communities Everywhere. After retiring from the classroom, she also served as co-chair of Stark County Family Council's Trauma and Resiliency Initiative. 

Before Covid, The GRACE Project presented Art and Soul Resiliency workshops/retreats for local women in recovery from addiction, with the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu as inspiration: “Do your little bit of good where you are. It’s these little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” These retreats are scheduled to resume in 2024.
 

Christine is married to her childhood sweetheart (aww!) Fredrick and they are blessed with three adult children and four grandchildren, who offer a realistic window into the current stresses of family and classroom life. In Chris’ words, “They bring drama, joy and laughter into this decade of our lives.”