Toya Redmond recently completed her associate degree in Child Development at Truman College and is now enrolled at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
While a student at Truman, Toya built a fully-functioning playhouse, which was designed, prepared, and decorated by pre-K students, as part of her Teacher Action Research Project. Toya and her daughter also created a mentoring program and book club for girls that met once a week.
Toya has owned a successful home childcare center for the last 9 years, where her focus is “nourishing young minds through knowledge and active play.” Her education at Truman helped to exposure her to best practices in the field. She also serves as a teacher assistant on the continuing education Tinkering study in Truman’s Tinkering Lab, a project supported by Chicago Mercantile Exchange in partnership with Truman College and Western Illinois University. She supports fellow early childhood professionals learning about the use of tinkering in supporting creative and critical thinking in young children.