Hope As a Mother's Savior

Lena McCalla Njee teaches children with autism in the Irvington School District, New Jersey where she received the 2011-2012 Teacher of the Year Award.As a special education teacher, she is trained to work with children having multiple disabilities. However, she specializes in & loves working with children diagnosed with autism. “My greatest joys are the successes of my students, the tears I see in the parents’ eyes when they say, ‘My child spoke my name for the first time in five years.’ When I get a hug with those little arms filled with fingerpaint, my heart is filled with joy.” She is a graduate of New Jersey City University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in special education. Previously, she graduated from Sam Sharpe Teacher’s College in Jamaica then migrated to the United States. Prior to her current position at the Irvington School District, she taught at Chad Elementary in Newark as well as Mount Carmel Guild School for Children with Disabilities. McCalla Njee is a member of the Autism Society of America. She currently resides in New Jersey with her family.