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Community Corner

Woop Named Morris County 'Wonderful Woman'

Butler councilwoman devotes time to helping women in need.

Starting as a hospital nurse more than 30 years ago, Judith Woop moved through a career that includes time as a school nurse, a college professor, career counselor, politician and most recently, a businesswoman.

But, she told the audience at the Morris County’s Women’s Center Friday as Woop was named Morris County’s 2011’s Wonderful Woman, that a resume that lists accomplishments and jobs, is no more than a “written document,” a “format to present your profile for the positions you are applying.”

Woop, a Butler resident and councilwoman, urged the women in the audience not to be pigeonholed  by solely what they did for a living, what they did for their family, but to consider what skills and drive it took to accomplish it.

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“My career, profession, job does not define me,” she said.

For many women, especially those who enter the workforce later in life, their resume can appear to be thin, because  it is hard to quantify the skills needed to raise a family, manage a home and volunteer in the community, she said.

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“I was no different than thousands of women preparing to re-enter the workplace after raising a family, taking care of sick parents, children and other family members or yourself after breast cancer and heart  disease or volunteering for the Little League, Cub scouts [or] Brownies," she said.

As a career counselor, Woop said she advised women to put their best foot forward.

“Where is the credit for life experience? Negotiating with insurance  claims for medical bills, financial planning. Where are the educational  credits for child care—developmental disabilities, dealing with chronic illness, life threatening allergies,” she asked.

“I’m honored,” she said.

The Women's Center at County College of Morris is a non-profit program, which provides career counseling and  supportive services. Over the past 25 years, the program has helped thousands of women who are divorced, separated, victims of domestic violence or single parents who become economically independent.

“We are one of 15 displaced homemaker centers in New Jersey," Women’s Center Director Melissa Elias said.

The center offers a way for women to  develop self-sufficiency and self-esteem, Elias said.

Woop was selected as the 2011 Wonderful Woman for her long history of serving the people of Morris County, assisting and encouraging them to improve the quality of their lives, Elias said.

Edith Frank, chairwoman of the Morris County Advisory Committee on Women, was pleased that Woop was honored  for her community work.

The advisory committee was formed five years ago to present to the freeholders issues that affect women, Frank said. It is especially important, she said, to reach out to younger woman to educate them on the community impact of issues that affect women.

Starting as a hospital nurse, Woop became a high school nurse in the 1970s. “Visualize the show,” she said.

In the high school, working with adolescents, Woop said,  she realized “many would be unprepared to deal with the complex issues they would be facing in a rapidly changing world.”

That experience led to a career in counseling and to the displaced homemakers program. Traveling helped her learn about school nurses functioned in rural, city and suburban school settings, she said.

She eventually served as liaison from the National Association of School Nurses to the Morris County school nurses and as president of the New Jersey State School Nurses group.

Woop, a professor of nursing education at Caldwell College, owns The Computer Corner of Boonton.

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