Judy Gelner graduated from Valparaiso University in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science in Education and then taught 5th grade for two years in St. Louis Missouri.

In 1985, Judy founded Poppyseed Press to provide a service called Mergatreud's Mailbox which provided letters, crafts, and science experiments for young children.   In 1988, she authored and published College Admissions: A Guide for Homeschoolers. During this period she attended many seminars on writing and publishing for authors and educators.

Judy began working for Pinewood School in Colorado in 1993, writing individualized curriculum plans for homeschooling families and contributing to the development of Pinewood's elementary curricula.   At the same time she began taking writing classes at the University of Denver, earning a certificate in Technical Writing in 1998 by completing 26 semester hours in post-graduate work.

Since joining the Clonlara staff in 1996, Judy has been a Clonlara School advisor for home-based students, currently is editor of Clonlara's publication The Learning Edge, and has contributed to the development of selected curriculum choices for Clonlara's elementary and high school students.

Judy has been interested in homeschooling since she began homeschooling her own children in 1982.   They have grown and moved on, but her interest in home education remains.   Judy once taught in a traditional school but finds that she has learned more about young people and education from experiences with her own family and other homeschoolers than from any class.   She now spends time working with homeschoolers at Clonlara, engaging in occasional skirmishes with new computer software programs, and when possible, on reading historical fiction and mysteries, knitting, music, writing, and hiking.