This week’s Project 100+ memory comes from Al Lewis.  He was born and raised in Barrington, New Jersey.  He was raised by a single mother who was a secretary, first for Rohm & Haas Chemical and then for Campbell Soup Company.  He has an older sister who went to private school, but Al went to public schools, graduating from Haddon Heights High School in 2002.  He began college in the Fall of 2002 at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, but he transferred to Rowan in the Spring of 2003.  He graduated from Rowan in the Spring of 2006 with majors in elementary education and history.  In the fall of 2008, he began teaching at Signal Hill Elementary in Voorhees, New Jersey.  He taught there for five years before becoming the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Supervisor for Gloucester Township Public Schools.  He held this position for nine years before becoming, on July 1, 2022, the Superintendent of the Weymouth Township School District.  He continues in that position today.  Many years ago, Al earned his Master’s degree in elementary mathematics and literacy at Walden University, and he continues his graduate studies today in Walden’s doctoral program in Educational Leadership.  In 2023, he was nominated for Rowan University’s Community Impact Award for several initiatives, including his efforts organizing a free summer STEM camp for students who are underrepresented in such fields.  He is also involved with efforts to create a community school in the impoverished rural community of Weymouth Township.  This school would include things such as a food pantry for all needy local residents, after hours support for working parents, and even weekend classes to help the town’s students and families gain additional knowledge.  He will find out if he won the award in the new year. 

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I didn’t consider Rowan when I first applied to college.  I wanted to study pre-law, and I took early acceptance at Sacred Heart University.  However, just as my college experience was beginning, my step-father was diagnosed with cancer and likely did not have long to live.  As a result and to support my mother, I decided to return to New Jersey.  At this same time, I began to reconsider my law school aspirations.  I had begun coaching my younger cousin’s hockey team, and I found that I really enjoyed working with young people.  So, when I decided to transfer colleges, I also decided to switch majors to teaching.  Because Rowan had a good reputation for training teachers and it was close to home, it was a natural choice.

The transition to Rowan went well.  I began playing for the travel hockey team, and this helped connect me with other students right from the beginning.  As a commuter, it was nice to have these friendships from the start. My hockey playing also led to a long-term relationship with Hollydell, and I continue to volunteer there all these years later.  

I also enjoyed my first classes.  I had very good adjunct faculty members.  I took historian Vance Kincade for surveys of both the history of Western Civilization and United States history.  He was passionate, and I loved his classes.  I remember that he assigned us Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, which was my first exposure to this approach to American history.  A very important course for me was Historical Methods, which I took with you, Dr. Carrigan. I had thought I was a pretty good writer before that course, but you convinced me that I needed to be much more careful and precise with my prose.  It was a turning point in my education for many reasons.  I am now in a doctoral program in Educational Leadership, and I am still using techniques and things I learned in that Methods class in the writing of my dissertation.

I had Dr. Wiltenburg for a course on witchcraft.  This course was fascinating for me because we approached the subject from a different perspective than I had ever taken before.  We explored the course from the perspective of witches who were often racial or ethnic minorities and always women.  Seeing history from their point of view transformed my ability to see all of history and society in a different way.

Dr. Morschauser was an inspiration to me.  I took a course on Egyptian history with him, and his teaching filled me with such curiosity that I decided to take a two-week trip to Egypt after I graduated.  One funny memory that I have involved his playing a practical joke on the class.  He was generally very serious as a professor, so we did not see the joke coming.  For our final exam, he distributed a test designed for graduate students studying Egyptian history.  I re-read the first question five times, panicking as I knew nothing about what it was asking.  He then told us that he had distributed the “wrong” exam and that he would not distribute our actual final.  Looking back now, it was a great moment of humor, but I can still remember those few moments of panic. 

Another faculty member for which I have clear memories is David Applebaum.  He was brilliant but abstract.  I remember him drawing elaborate but hard to fathom drawings on the board.  He would then turn and ask us questions about it. I remember that he would just wait and stare at us, no matter how long the silence endured.  He had these blue eyes that just caught you as you struggled to make sense of what he wanted.  I thought he was a really great professor because he taught so differently and forced you think and re-think how you saw things.  I can still remember him using the phrase “ebb and flow” multiple times every class. 

My education classes at Rowan were top notch.  The faculty were great and practical.  The one I remember best was Patrick Westcott, who was so caring and genuine.  He helped me especially with how to comport myself as a male elementary school teacher, since I was definitely in the minority as the elementary school field.  I felt very prepared when I eventually became a teacher. 

I always felt that the faculty genuinely cared for me.  They were always there for me outside of class if I needed help or support.  My years at Rowan were hard for me personally because of the death of my step-father.  I had grown up poor, and my family had always emphasized getting an education as a way to escape this cycle.  Thus, I never considered giving up on my degree even through all the challenges of this period.  As I look back all these years later, it is interesting to look at all the small moments and interactions that helped me become who I am now.  When I was living through it, I was just going to class, completing the assignments, and doing what I needed to get that degree that had so long been my goal.  With time, however, I now see how the various pieces of my education fit together and shaped not only my technical skills in reading, research, and writing but even my approach to life itself.  I certainly would not be the person I am today without my time at Rowan.  My appreciation has led me to stay in touch with Rowan, returning to campus to hear speakers and events and to guest lecture in classes when asked.  I look forward to many more years of connection with my alma mater.

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This is part of the Department of History’s “Project 100+,” an ongoing collection of memories by Glassboro State College and Rowan University alumni and staff that began as part of the celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of Glassboro Normal School, later Glassboro State College, and now Rowan University.  Due to interest in the project, the number of interviewees continues to grow.  Thanks to Laurie Lahey for helping proofread and edit the final versions.  Email carrigan@rowan.edu with questions or corrections.  You can find the Link to all of the Project 100 and Project 100+ entries on the Web:  https://chss.rowan.edu/departments/history/alumni_highlights/project_100/