In Their Own Words


An interview with
FPEA District 6 Director
Trish Olivia

Trish Oliva is living proof that eavesdropping on strangers’ conversations sometimes has life-altering benefits. After homeschooling her oldest son with mixed success, she began researching schooling options for her then-4- and 3-year-old.



Trish Olivia
District 6 Director

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A Voice of Experience



“I actually overheard a parking-lot conversation about a new way of homeschooling,” recalls the FPEA District 6 Director (covering Lake, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia counties), who is currently on a leave of absence from that position to serve as the FPEA Administrative Services Manager. “I walked over and introduced myself, apologizing for eavesdropping, but asked what they were talking about. They invited me to an informational meeting the next night, and I went and was completely sold.”

The Olivas (who include Trish’s husband, Bart) have gone on to employ many education options with their four children, who range in age from 32 all the way to 10. The common denominator, according to Trish, is that home education is “simply a way of life.” This has included the multigenerational dimension of caring for two aging parents, including one who lived with the Olivas during a terminal illness. “Homeschooling allowed us to keep her home,” Trish explains, “rather than in a nursing home or hospital, and she died with her whole family around her.”

Other benefits directly related to the education process, as one of Trish and Bart’s children was diagnosed with five learning disabilities. “Homeschooling allowed us the flexibility to utilize different treatments,” Trish says. “Homeschooling a variety of different ways helped him understand this disability, and his coping skills and brain development have made the disability transparent to outside observers, even his college professors.”

With such obstacles to the education process, it’s no secret that some homeschooling days are harder than others for Trish. “When I have really tough days, I don’t get the phone book out to threaten them with ‘You are going to public school,’” she says with a smile. “Instead, I have a ‘Starbucks, take me away’ recess and then I get back to the business of homeschooling, tweaking whatever it was that caused the initial frustration.”

Prior to becoming District 6 Director, Trish served in a variety of homeschool leadership roles. She was, among other positions, “library mom” for a homeschool co-op and the family education director for a nontraditional private school. Her diverse personal background also includes experience in the business world and as a single parent. “My experiences give me a high level of empathy to new and experienced homeschool families, which often soothes their frustrations, hopelessness and tears,” Trish explains. “I am able to offer creative solutions to meet their needs.”

It may not take the form of eavesdropping on conversations, but Trish is always ready to share her home education experiences with others. “Homeschooling is not for everyone,” she says, “it’s a lot of work and it’s not for weenies, but it is by far the most rewarding, long-lasting, generation-changing, eternity-impacting work you will ever do.”