NTERVIEW: JUDY ARON - DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AT NHELD (National Home Education Legal Defense)http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Thursday, April 27, 2006

This interview was conducted by Mr. Henry Cate of Why Homeschool blog or whyhomeschool.blogspot.com:
http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2006/04/interview-judy-aron-director-of.html

Below is an interview with Judy Aron done via email. Judy makes some great points. One of the ones which resonanted with me is how children who are being homeschooled need to realize their education is a partnership and take initiative. Her thoughts about how all homeschoolers need to be informed and involved with poltics reminded me of some of the reviews I've read about An Army of Davids (which I have, and hope to read soon) by Glenn Reynolds.

Bio:

Judy Aron is a long time Homeschooling Activist. She has been heavily involved in protecting the rights of parents: particularly homeschoolers. Currently Judy works as the Research Director for the National Home Education Legal Defense (http://www.nheld.com/). Judy was also Vice President of CT Homeschool Network, and currently is their legislative liaison. (http://www.cthomeschoolnetwork.org/). She is wife to Michael Aron, and mom to 3 wonderful kids. David is a graduate of Boston University, Jeff currently attends Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Rachel is pursuing her high school studies at home.


Personal:

Judy, tell us a little about yourself. Where did you grow up? What hobbies do you have? Where is the most exciting place you've traveled to?

I was born in Far Rockaway, New York, and attended public school there up until my parents had to deal with bussing and other problems with the school system. Yes, I recall being bussed quite far away from my home to a horrible school. So, when I was a ìtweenagerî we moved to ìupstateî New York, to a little town called Accord. I attended public school there and then graduated from Rondout Valley High School and went on to attend SUNY New Paltz, where I earned a BA in Economics in 1978 with a dual minor in Business Administration and Computer Science. I graduated Magna Cum Laude. Shortly after graduation I married my husband Michael Aron and we moved to Connecticut. I worked for the Travelers Insurance Company as a manager in Data Processing, and after having my second child I hung up the corporate suit and stayed home to be a parent full time. It was a wise decision, and one that I will never regret, despite the hardship of giving up half of our income at the time. During my time at home and raising a family, I did all kinds of things including obtaining a real estate license, running a travel agency out of my home for a time, and doing lots of community work.

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Editor's Note: Judy Aaron and Deborah Stevenson of NHELD will be presenting workshops at the 2006 New
England Homeschool & Family Learning Conference held in Boxborough, MA, July 14, 15, 2006.