Mrs. Parode earned a B. A. in Economics-Business, magna cum laude, from UCLA, and she is currently pursuing her M. A. in American History from Pace University. She has worked in a variety of business and educational positions, including Director of Catholic Religious Education at a U. S. military base, substitute teacher for the Department of Defense Dependent Schools in Brindisi, Italy, class teacher (biology lab, history, electives) for the Our Lady of the Fields Home School Co-op, and tutor at St. Peter the Rock and St. John Paul II tutorials. Mrs. Parode is also a freelance travel writer and writing tutor. The Parode family's home schooling journey began as a two-year experiment at an overseas duty station in Italy, and the adventure continued until both Parode children graduated from high school and went on to college.