Q&A with New Board Member Kris Keim

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your family, and what brought you to central Arkansas. 

I’m originally a farm boy from the Kansas City, Missouri area. From 1992-1996, I attended Harding University where I received my accounting degree with a youth ministry minor. Upon graduation, I attended Harding University where I received my accounting degree with a youth ministry minor. Upon graduation, I moved to Brisbane, Australia where I had visited the

previous three summers with Harding Campaigns, and while in Brisbane, I worked part-time for a church as a youth minister and part-time in the administration of a private christian school — Redlands College — which was very similar in a lot of ways to CAC. After working there for two years, I returned to the States and settled back in Central Arkansas where I’ve been for the last 22 years. I currently work with Huffman & Co as the CFO where we are involved in a number of development and construction activities around the Southeast US. 
In 2001, I married my wife, Jamie, and we’ve had four kids — Hannah (17), Lincoln (14), Layton (11) and Ledger (5) — that challenge us as parents and make us extremely proud all at the same time. Hannah and Lincoln are at the secondary campus, and Layton and Ledger are at the PV elementary campus. 

What did you see in CAC that helped you decide to enroll your children here?  

Jamie and I both grew up attending smaller public schools. For a number of years, our older kids were part of the Bryant Schools. While we had extremely positive experiences with Bryant, we always wondered if it was too big — and more importantly, our desire was for our kids to be taught from a Christian perspective. 

Ironically enough, I had friends back in college that grew up at and graduated from CAC (and I even attended CAC’s homecoming football game in 1992). We’ve been involved with church at PV since 1999, and so we’ve interacted with a number of students, teachers and staff at CAC all those years. So, when it came time to make a change, CAC just felt right — and we knew that we could entrust our kids to CAC.

What is something that after joining the CAC family, you noticed about the community here? 

While we knew the family at CAC would care about our kids, I don’t know that we realized to what extent that would happen. From the administration to the teachers to the coaches and support staff, we’ve been amazed at how much our family has been loved by the CAC family — and for that, we are deeply grateful.

What are you most looking forward to in your new role on CAC’s Board of Directors? 

Legacy is an important word to me.  During my time in Central Arkansas, I’ve been blessed to work for and with a number of people who have served on CAC’s Board (past and present) — both in the work environment and church-related opportunities. I’ve also been able to interact with a number of CAC staff members in various activities. When I stop and think about how each of these people has influenced my life, I am so thankful. What I’m confident of is that these people left and are continuing to leave a legacy at CAC. What I look forward to is continuing to be encouraged and challenged by these folks, and my hope is that in some small way, I can leave a legacy for someone, too.

What are things you like to do in your free time? Do you have any hobbies or passions that bring you joy?

Free time can many times be a bit hard to come by, but when it does, I like to go outside and work — even doing simple tasks like mowing and cutting wood. We even have a summer garden and chickens and this last year made an attempt at beekeeping. I think those activities take me back to growing up on the farm. 

And I must admit that I do enjoy watching sports — whether it’s the Razorbacks or my hometown Chiefs and Royals.