PORT ANGELES — A self-defense class for women and children planned for Sunday will protect in two ways, said the organizer.
It will help potential victims defend themselves, and the profits from the class will go toward purchasing a speed awareness trailer to be parked near Port Angeles schools, said Kristen Chittick, who organized the class.
The class will be in honor of Christin Stock, who was killed by an ex-boyfriend at the age of 35 in February 2008, said Chittick, who was a close friend of the Port Angeles mother of two.
“Christin didn’t have anything to defend herself with,” Chittick said. “She didn’t have any self-defense training.
“But she didn’t want to believe he was capable of that. It just goes to show that you never know what someone is capable of, and it is good to be prepared for the worst case,” Chittick said.
“The worst case happened to Christin.”
Jeffrey Calvert, 41, of Bellingham kicked in the door to Stock’s home in Port Angeles, shot her to death, then killed himself with a second gun while Stock’s children, who were 9 and 11 at the time, hid in a closet upstairs.
The 2 p.m. class Sunday will be offered for a $10 donation at the playground at Jefferson Elementary School, 218 E. 12th St., where Stock did her student teaching and worked as a substitute teacher.
Those attending the class will be provided water as well as a whistle to carry to use in case of an emergency.
The class will be taught by Ben Sanford, who is the founder and director of Tribal Edge Training Center in Blyn, and will feature Sikal martial arts techniques, Chittick said.
“The police have loaned us a cushion suit so they can really go all out on someone,” Chittick said.
“They don’t have to hesitate or hold back. They can really fight like they would in a real situation.”
Chittick said Healthy Families of Clallam County, based in Port Angeles, will provide information about domestic violence, and she is hopeful a staff member from the organization will attend to speak to women and children about warning signs.
“The thing is, with Christin, all the warning signs were there,” she said.
“She just didn’t really pay attention or want to believe the bad that was out there.”
After a month of stalking and inundating Stock with gifts — including dozens of roses, videos of himself talking to her as well as videos of him naked and a book with hundreds of photos of them together — Calvert confronted Stock at her parents’ home on Feb. 24, 2008, where she was living.
“We knew it was just a matter of time before he came,” Chittick said.
“We didn’t know it would be like that. But Christin would have drills with the girls and had even put a phone up in that closet.
“They knew what to do in case Jeff came.”
Just five days before the confrontation, Stock had filed a restraining order against Calvert, but it hadn’t been processed yet.
“I don’t know what the restraining order could have done, though,” Chittick said. “He had already been told to leave her alone.”
Since Stock’s death, her daughters, Saoirse and Daisy, have moved to California to live with their father.
The donations from the class — as well as about $3,000 in donations that were raised since Stock’s death — will go into the Christin Stock School Safety Fund.
Chittick hopes the fund will earn enough to buy a speed awareness trailer that can be parked near schools. Such trailers show drivers the speed they are traveling and typically cost about $8,000.
“Christin would tell me all the time that she was worried about how fast the cars go around Jefferson” Elementary School, Chittick said.
“In a way, having a trailer would be like her protecting the kids and looking out for them.”
To preregister for the class, phone 360-417-9212 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 360-417-9212 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Walk-ups are also welcome, but preregistration is requested.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
