Meet Somerset County ESP of the Year Lisa Murphy
By Kathryn Coulibaly
Lisa Murphy wears many different hats. She’s an instructional assistant in Hillsborough Middle School, a strong union advocate, a mother, an advocate for her students and colleagues and the 2025-26 Somerset County ESP of the Year, but she feels one of her greatest strengths is working with special education students.
“I have a long history of relationships with people with disabilities,” Murphy says. “I grew up the family friend of the only known set of female savant twins. As a teenager, I babysat for a blind, deaf woman. My mother used to take us to events with children with disabilities to help us understand that people are people and kids are kids. That shaped me and my career.”
Murphy began her professional life working in vocational rehabilitation, and then with people who had experienced head trauma. After her children were older, she went back to work in the schools so that she could continue to work with people with special needs while still being able to care for her children and be on the same school schedule.
“I love my job,” Murphy says. “I’ve been working in public schools for 18 years with many different populations, but my first love is working in self-contained rooms. I have an ability to deal with students who have behavioral difficulties and who are a bit more emotionally charged.”
Murphy believes in the importance of respect in schools among the students, teachers and educational support professionals.
“Everything is about relationships,” Murphy says. “If you want to be successful in any venture, you need to build good relationships. That’s what makes me connect. I look past a lot of things and just try to get to know the person. Then we can work on whatever goals are requested of them or that they have on their own.”
Murphy has a strong belief in leaving things better than you found them, whether that’s a walk in the woods, on the beach, or in your job. That’s part of the reason she is such an advocate for mentoring programs for educational support professionals.
“A lot of people don’t understand what instructional assistants or paraprofessionals do,” Murphy explains. “We don’t teach one subject; we are with students in every subject. We don’t specialize; we need to know it all.”
Murphy comes from a strong union family. Her father was a roofer and proud member of his local association. Murphy got involved in her local association so that she would be aware of things that were going on and affecting her and her colleagues. She also wanted to advocate for ESP issues, not only paraprofessionals, but also custodians, bus drivers, secretaries and others.
“The people who are behind the scenes are often forgotten, but without any of us, the machine doesn’t run well – or at all!”
Murphy was honored to be named the 2025-26 Somerset County ESP of the Year.
“I was so proud to be recognized,” Murphy says. “There’s not enough recognition for educational support professionals, and that’s something I want to work on. There are so many people in our schools who deserve accolades. I want to see more of them get the appreciation and respect they deserve.”
Kathryn Coulibaly writes the monthly ESP column. She is an associate director in the NJEA Communications Division.