ABOUT CAROLE GESME
Carole created and sold therapeutic and educational games and tools for parents and their children through her company, I Want To Be Me. Carole is also an author of many different books and articles around child development and effective parenting. She was an adjunct professor at Concordia and St. Mary’s University in Minnesota. For many years she taught child protection workers for the Department of Human Services on how abuse and neglect affects child development as well as Parent Education.
Carole’s desire is to pass on to those in the Family Systems, Parent Education, Methodology and Child Development field the depth and breadth of her experience, expertise, and passion. She has become widely known and highly respected for her development of creative and therapeutic educational resources for parents and children, and has shared her expertise with numerous educators and organizations in order to improve the lives of children and families.
Carole began her career as an elementary school teacher. Realizing there were no parenting classes she went back to school to get a degree in Family Life Education and become a certified CFLE. Continuing her education, she became a certified Chemical Dependency Counselor, worked for Project Charlie traveling and training teachers to use the drug prevention program, and created the game “Keyed up for Being Drug Free”. While working with inmates at Shakopee, she developed an interest in reunifying mothers with their children and preventing second generation incarceration. This interest led her to create the books, "Help for Children Whose Parents are in Prison or in Jail" and "While We're Apart". She earned a Masters degree in Human Development at St. Mary's University.
Carole is the recipient of the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development Alumni Society Larry Wilson award in 2005. She is also the recipient of the Outstanding Advisor award from St. Mary’s University in 2001. Her book Life is a Celebration won the 2000 Midwest Book Award in the Religion and Philosophy category.
Carole Gesme
Plymouth, Minnesota
[email protected]