Vince Haggard is a therapeutic intervention coach at Parrott Creek Ranch, a residential facility supporting adolescent boys exiting incarceration. Clackamas Education Service District partners with Parrott Creek by providing instructional staff, and Vince plays a critical role in helping students rebuild confidence, learn essential skills and move toward a more hopeful future.
Vince works closely with each student to strengthen problem-solving abilities, social-emotional skills and academic readiness. He supports them as they earn credits toward their GED and build daily habits that will serve them long after they leave the ranch. Patience, positive behavior modeling and authentic relationship-building are at the core of his approach to helping young men gain the tools and confidence they need to pursue a better life, and, as he puts it, to “become better human beings.” His work is informed by training in Nonviolent Crisis Intervention and Collaborative Problem Solving, which helps him guide students through challenges and navigate difficult moments.
“More than anything, I want them to be confident, because confidence is huge,” Vince says. “A good day is seeing a youth push himself to finish a class and earn that credit. I always tell them, ‘It’s not where you start. It’s where you finish.’”
As a young adult, Vince set his sights on becoming a professional athlete. But when an injury brought that dream to an abrupt halt, he began searching for a new direction that would allow him to channel his drive to help people into a career. That search ultimately steered him toward education.
Vince joined Clackamas ESD in 2014, starting in a program that supported students with significant social, emotional, behavioral and academic needs that would later become the Heron Creek Therapeutic Program. In 2017, he brought his experience and commitment to helping others to Parrott Creek, where he continues to help young people rebuild their lives.
As Vince supports his students in building brighter futures, he continues to pursue his own growth. In 2020, he earned his bachelor’s degree in criminology from Portland State University with financial support from Clackamas ESD professional development funds. Vince appreciates the support from Clackamas ESD to continue his education while on the job, and he plans to pursue a master’s degree in the future.
Vince embodies the values he teaches: respect, kindness and belief in each young person’s possibilities.
“Everyone brings value,” he says. “When people know they’re valued, they thrive.”
