This month’s staff spotlight is Jackie Castellano, who has worked at Atlantic County Special Services School District (ACSSSD) since 2005. With her entire profession devoted to special education, Jackie started her career with ACSSSD as a teacher’s aide while earning two degrees – a Bachelor of Arts in literature with a concentration in education/special education and a Master of Education with a concentration in special education. She went on to earn two endorsements as well – a supervisor education endorsement in educational leadership and a principal education endorsement in educational leadership, for which she spent more than 300 hours as an administration intern at ACSSSD. Most of her career has been spent working in classrooms with students in the autism population, and she spent a short time teaching preschool students.
As a young mom, she was helping a friend write a paper for Atlantic County Community College (ACCC). The paper earned her friend an A and inspired Jackie to submit an application to attend ACCC. Jackie’s application was accepted, and she signed up for night classes, earning her first 60 college credits.
Jackie was first introduced to special education after high school, after she had earned her first 60 college credits. Jackie’s mother was a school secretary at the time and encouraged her to get a substitute certificate. She decided to pursue that and applied for a position at a local school where they had just opened a program for students with autism. Within 10 minutes of starting this position, the teacher noted that she could see Jackie was meant for working in the classroom. Shortly after starting, the teacher took Jackie on a field trip with the students to the ACSSSD cafeteria. By the time she got on the bus to go back to her school, she had already filled out an application to work at ACSSSD. To this day, the administrators at ACSSSD value Jackie and her approach to teaching.
“Jackie is a valuable member of our team,” said Erin Lichtenwalner, Director of Instruction, Programs and Services. “We are lucky to have someone who not only has a wealth of experience but is also passionate about her career and helping others develop their own careers.”
Today, Jackie is a teacher in the same room where she started as a teacher’s aide, bringing her education and life-work full circle. Her classroom is known by the school community as a model classroom because of the effort and thought that is put into setting it up to serve the students in the best way. Jackie loves working with students, but she also enjoys being a teacher mentor as well.
“I would never want to leave the classroom, and I would only do it to teach the new teachers. I am passionate about helping teachers become better teachers,” Jackie said.
She knows there is still much to do and many areas where the special needs population needs greater support. Parents and caregivers need more support, and the students need state and legislature advocacy. Jackie provides in-home Application Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy to students, which is based on the science of learning and behavior. She wishes to stay in this lane educationally and continue serving the autism population through applied therapy and support.
“I want to pay it forward. I didn’t believe in myself, and someone saw something in me and pushed me,” said Jackie with a smile. “I was harassed until I became a teacher, and we are still in touch.”