A Little About Me!
My name is Janet Hooper and I was born on December 9, 1969, in Jeanette, Pennsylvania, about thirty-five miles east of Pittsburgh. My parents are Gerald Hooper, born in Paris, Pennsylvania and Gloria Hooper born in Jeanette, Pennsylvania. I have one sister, born in 1978 - I recently lost my younger brother, he was killed on December 13 in a car accident in California My father was a laborer in a Steel Mill in West Virginia for 30 years before retiring. My mother was a schoolteacher for many years before returning to University to obtain a degree in accounting. Currently my parents reside in Wilmington, Delaware, where my father is enjoying retirement and my mother is a controller at a factory. I attended elementary and middle school in Mingo Junction, Ohio. When I was thirteen we moved to Weirton, WV where I continued my education at Brooke High School in Wellsburg, WV. After graduating high school in June of 1988, I attended area community colleges until I completed my Baccalaureate degree in Mental Health and Human Services / Counseling from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, in 1994.I married right out of high school and was divorced within two years, but not before I had my beautiful daughter Alicia, on August 28, 2003 in Wheeling, WV. I enlisted in the Army Reserves when I was seventeen, and a junior in High School. My unit was the 463rd Engineer Battalion located in Wheeling, WV. I attended basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey and completed my advanced training at Ft. Lee, Virginia. I remained in the Army Reserves until 1994, where I had retained the rank of specialist. I worked throughout college, full time to help defray costs. My first job during college was as a waitress at Figarettis Italian Restaurant, just outside of Wheeling, WV. After I began attending the University of Steubenville, I took a job working at the Franciscan University Press (a small Catholic publishing company affiliated with the University). After graduation I relocated to eastern Pennsylvania and I took a position with Wimpey Minerals at their United States Corporate Headquarters, in Annville, Pennsylvania as their Public / Employee relations director. I worked at Wimpey until the company was sold in 1997 and the corporate headquarters was relocated to Chicago. In July of 1997 I began working for CFM Technologies, in Exton, Pennsylvania doing employee relations, human resources counseling and events planning. In 2000, Mattson Technologies bought out CFM Technologies and all operations in Exton were relocated to Mattson Corporate Headquarters in California. Currently I am employed by the Department of Defense; more specifically I work for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. My work with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard entails Guidance Counseling, work with financial aid, testing and benefits briefing. I have never held a position that I did not love or at least enjoy, however, being a Guidance Counselor and working with soldiers and their spouses is the most rewarding position I have ever held. I cannot image pursing any other career, and at least for now I have found a home. Currently I do quite a bit of volunteer work in my local community and with the military community. I work with children, tutoring them or just helping to keep them in school. I also am an active member of our Civic Association and various committees that plan social events for all ages but especially for teenagers who are always “bored”. I live in a gated community called Lake Wynonah, in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. It is a wonderfully quiet and peaceful area in the Mountains, it reminds me of my childhood home in West Virginia. Gated communities usually have a stigma about them; all the houses are the same, the people are rich and snobby and no one minds their own business. My community is the opposite all the houses are distinctly different (you can buy a house for 45K or millions). People are generally helpful and kind, lending to a small town atmosphere - I have added a picture of the community so you too can see its beauty.
