Caroline Lewis '16 on CBS News discussing her father's legacy.
Twenty-five years after September 11, GFA alumna and CBS News producer Caroline Lewis ’16 shared her family’s story with a national audience.
Caroline’s father, Adam J. Lewis, husband of educator Patty Lewis and father of four GFA alumni, died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
In 2011, Patty and fellow educator and GFA parent Julie Mombello founded the Adam J. Lewis Academy in Bridgeport in his memory. The school grew from a belief Adam held deeply, shaped by his own experience: that access to an excellent education can change the course of a child’s life. What began as a preschool has since grown into a PreK–8 school serving nearly 200 students and families.
Caroline was a young child when she lost her father on September 11. Twenty-five years later, she had the opportunity to tell the story of the school that bears his name and what has grown from her family’s loss.
As Caroline reflects in the piece, the story of September 11 is not done being written. At AJLA, that idea takes shape each day in the lives and experiences of its students.
The connection between GFA and AJLA has continued beyond its founders. In recent years, GFA Upper School students have spent Monday afternoons at AJLA, sharing coding, theater, tutoring, conversation, and friendship.
On the 25th anniversary of September 11, GFA remembers Adam and all those whose lives were lost that day. Caroline’s reporting offers a powerful example of how remembrance can extend beyond looking back, through the stories we tell, the opportunities we create, and what we choose to carry forward.
We invite you to watch Caroline’s CBS Weekend News piece here.