This assignment was to write a traditional news article. It was to be a profile of alocal notable suitable for publication in a weekly newspaper.

Judy Rogers has dedicated her life to helping young children get ahead in life. She is the CDA Coordinator in the Vineland office of Rural Opportunities, New Jersey division.

Rogers was born in Virginia in 1956. Her family moved to Wildwood, NJ when she was two because her father had been relocated with his job. She lived with her parents and older brother. She knew from an early age that she wanted to be a teacher. She graduated from Wildwood High School, and enrolled at The College of New Jersey, then Trenton State College. After her first year there, she transferred to Rowan University, then Glassboro State. She focused her studies in Early Childhood Education and emerged with her BA.

Her first job was with Family Services, teaching underprivileged children. "I would go out in my car after work and just cry for ten minutes I would be so upset," said Rogers of her experience. The children were often dirty, hungry and miserable.

She got married in October 1979. Soon she was pregnant and quit Family Services. She had a daughter and became a stay at home mom. She began a small child care business in her home.

When she first got married, she and her husband were living in an apartment in Northfield. Before their daughter arrived, they moved to McKee City. When she was two, they moved back to Northfield.

Five years after the birth of her daughter, she had a son. By that time they had bought a house in Mays Landing. She remained a stay at home mom and continued to care for children until her son was old enough to go to preschool. She then got a job in Absecon working for a small, privately owned preschool, Preschool Child Development Center, PCDC. She was able to enroll her son at the same school.

After a few years, she was transferred to the Somers Point location of PCDC. While she loved all children equally, she enjoyed helping the children who had special needs. Whether they had some sort of handicap, or emotional problems, these children became her favorites.

With her children growing up and the bills getting larger, PCDC could no longer meet the family's financial needs. She got another job as a center director at Kid Academy in Absecon. She worked there for a time, but the stress of being the center director at that particular school became too much. There were incompetent teachers, and instances of stealing and vandalism. She left Kid Academy and became Center Director for Tudor Time in EHT. Again she ran into staffing problems, and found that her philosophy did not match with the center's. She soon got another job working for Rural Opportunities, Inc. Rural Opportunities is a company that works mainly with the migrant farm workers. She joined the program as CDA Coordinator. She is the supervisor of the directors of the two child care centers. She has to make sure that the directors are following the program guidelines. She is very happy at this job because she can see an obvious difference in the children when they arrive at the beginning of the summer. She's glad that she can help make sure that they are as clean as possible, and have at least one good meal a day. She helps any special needs children that may come in get the special attention they require.

Roger's home life has been just as busy as her professional. She helped her daughter when she had an accident at an early age and almost lost her finger. She took her son to soccer games and baseball practice. She drove her daughter to the high school for her band competitions and spent most weekends on the road being a band groupie. She attends the concerts that her son is in at his middle school, and will be a band groupie again when he gets to high school. She is helping her husband remodel the house, and is busy picking out new furniture. She takes care of the six cats and the dog. She offers emotional support and advice to her children and husband.

When asked if she would change anything about her life, she said there was one thing. "I wish that we had waited a little longer before having children. I love them and don't regret having them at all. I just wish that my husband and I had had a little more time to ourselves first."