18 / matters magazine / winter 2019 A nyone who spent time in Judi Co- hen’s office remembers it as a place where kids came first. No matter that the door was opened and knocked on multi- ple times. The phone rang. And the intercom was apt to buzz with an- nouncements while emails poured in. Her focus was completely on the person sitting across from her. For nearly 30 years as the Student Assistance Counselor (SAC) at Columbia High School, Cohen made a career of helping youth navigate the prob- lems of life, both big and small. Now, after 44 years working in the South Orange Maplewood school district, she has retired. Cohen was recently feted with a going away party in the school library that drew over a hundred of her co-workers, family and friends, with some traveling from as far away as Massachusetts. She is clearly a legend among students and peers, revered for her unwavering dedication to children. Michael Loupis, trained by Cohen as a SAC, says of her influence, “What I love about Judi is that she always put the students and families first. From the minute you entered the office with Judi until the minute you left, she allowed you to be heard…[and] always found a way to help you resolve any issue you were going through.” Cohen reflects on a lifetime spent in the South Orange Maplewood school district and clearly sees it as a good run that, given the chance, she’d repeat in a second life. Growing up in South Orange, she start- ed her education at the Marshall School, attended South Orange Junior High followed by Columbia High School. She admits that her memories of home are from a bygone era. Surrounded by a loving family, she had grandparents who lived nearby, an aunt and uncle across the street and another set of rela- tives in Maplewood. Her father ran a hardware store in the Vailsburg section of Newark and closed the store from 6 to 7 p.m. so he could be home with his family for dinner. She thrived on these tight family bonds. Earning a B.A. in speech and English from Case Western Reserve University, Cohen returned home to work as a permanent substitute four days a week at New Brunswick High School. On her day off, she subbed at South Orange Junior High which, at the time, included grades 6 - 9. Six weeks later, she was of- fered a position there when an English teacher retired. Eventually, Cohen moved to the high school as Everybody Loves Judi Columbia High School counselor retires from a career helping kids BY ELLEN DONKER