Sonya lives with husband Glen, their three children and extended family on “Wandoo” near Nebo in Central Queensland.
Prior to having children and moving to “Wandoo”, Sonya travelled a large portion of regional and rural Queensland as a sales representative for a multinational pharmaceutical company and was also a small business owner.
Sonya developed an interest and respect for educators when her daughter began Kindy where she held the president’s role. After driving many kilometres to and from a local small school each week, the demands of her then infant son and everything else that rural living brings, led her to investigate the option of Distance Education. The beginning of the 2016 school year saw the home office transformed into a schoolroom and after a successful transition to distance education a permanent schoolroom was added to the home. Sonya has fully embraced the role of Home Tutor and has delivered content from E-Kindy through to Year 6 via Capricornia School of Distance Education. During this time, she has gained many valuable insights into teaching by means of attending numerous professional development courses. With her oldest son now nearing the completion of his trade, her daughter fully immersing herself into boarding school life she now only has her youngest son at home who in addition to Distance Education is enjoying a one day a week Flexible Enrolment Arrangement with the local small school.
Upon commencing her home tutor journey Sonya joined ICPA for the added support and has held the role of Secretary within Capricornia BOTA since 2019. Sonya also experienced the ICPA passion at her first State Conference in 2019 at Charters Towers, where she was able to reconnect with many former boarding school friends who are scattered across the state.
Sonya values education and has an understanding of the challenges and personal investments that rural families face in educating their children. She is looking forward to her role as an ICPA State Councillor and the opportunity to work with a committed team of likeminded people to continue to assist and advocate for ICPA members and their children to achieve the goal of maintaining equitable education opportunities in rural and remote areas across Queensland.
