Although Palma is not a Radford native, she has made Radford her home for more than 45 years earning her B.S. and M.S. from Radford College in 1973 and 1977 and teaching over the course of her career at every school in the district. In college she did her student teaching at Kuhn Barnett Elementary School. After graduating she began her teaching career at Belle Heth Elementary School as a reading teacher. She then went on to teach reading at McHarg Elementary School and Radford High School and went on to teach both reading and English at John N. Dalton Intermediate School. Palma is married to Frank Clark, a 1969 graduate of Radford High School. They have two sons Timothy, a 1996 RHS graduate, and J, a 2010 RHS graduate.