Message from the President

A Letter from Your TN-CEC President, Amy Callender 

Hello all,

We have certainly been through tough times and continue to survive in the face of immense adversity.  I commend you for all you do for those you love and serve.  

To begin, let me share just a little about my journey. My love for special education began as a senior in high school when I had the opportunity to serve as a peer mentor.  This spark ignited a passion for working with children with disabilities and their families that still continues after 26 years serving in the field. As a former P-12 special education teacher and school psychologist, I have been blessed by many opportunities to work with many amazing colleagues, students, and their families. Now, in higher education, working with pre-service special education and general education teachers, I continue to explore ways to better practices. I immerse myself in outreach opportunities for the population in which I serve and desire to surround myself with others who share common goals of providing exemplar services for individuals who are differently abled and their families.  

It is you, our members and “soon-to-be” members☺, who are the heroes and I look forward to finding ways to let your work and those you serve shine across the nation.  One of the initiatives that our executive board would like to soon get going is local and regional chapters across our state.  We want to find ways to connect professionals, pre-service professionals, and families in ways that provide support, resources, ideas, and community. Networking is a huge part of remaining active and continuing to search for ways to better our field. 

As President of our Tennessee Council for Exceptional Children unit, I continue to strive to serve our state in meaningful ways. I would love to hear from you. Please reach out and share any ideas you have about how we can help TN-CEC be as meaningful to you as possible. 

Respectfully,

Amy Locke Callender, PhD
amycallender@tntech.edu