2026-09-10T20:29:00-0400 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
每年九月，学校的铃声第一次响起时，我的母亲帕蒂·刘易斯都会拿出她的扬声器。播放着她最爱的八十年代音乐，她欢迎学生们来到亚当·J·刘易斯学院——这所以我父亲、她的丈夫亚当命名的学校，亚当在2001年世贸中心袭击事件中遇难。
我的父亲在纽约布朗克斯区和父亲同住一间卧室的公寓长大，就读于当地的公立小学和中学。他的体育天赋为他赢得了曼哈顿道尔顿学校的奖学金，正是这次教育机会改变了他的人生。这让他坚信教育是最终的平衡器：无论你出身何处，坚实的教育基础都能创造公平的竞争环境。
他抓住了这次机会并全力拼搏。从道尔顿学校毕业后，他进入汉密尔顿学院，在那里结识了我的母亲，后来他在双子塔内的金融公司基夫·布鲁耶特·伍兹公司（Keefe, Bruyette & Woods）开启了自己的职业生涯。
当家里迎来四个孩子——赖利、萨姆、索菲和我时，我的母亲辞去了教学工作来抚养我们。我的父亲始终陪伴在孩子们身边，每天往返于纽约市和康涅狄格州之间，确保我们始终能感受到被关注、被倾听和被关爱。为家庭提供保障对他来说至关重要，他明白正是自己当年获得的教育机会才让这样的生活成为可能。
刘易斯一家：亚当、帕蒂和他们的四个孩子。卡罗琳·刘易斯 摄
9·11事件过去十年后，我的母亲重返教育行业，在康涅狄格州韦斯特波特的一所私立学校负责招生工作。她面试了数百名来自周边社区的孩子，包括收入较低、公立学校质量欠佳的布里奇波特市，亲眼见证了多少有潜力的学生缺乏成功所需的基础技能。这些孩子往往被拒之门外。
她开始思考：如果有人能创办一个高质量的幼儿教育项目，为这些学生提供他们需要的基础能力，会怎么样？
这个想法一直萦绕在她心头。最终，她将这个想法分享给了朋友兼前同事朱莉·蒙贝洛。朱莉最初称她“疯了”，但随后听她花了六个小时讲述合适的教育机会如何能改变一个孩子的人生——就像当年改变我父亲的人生那样。
2011年，亚当·J·刘易斯幼儿园正式注册成立。这时，我的母亲需要一栋教学楼、办学许可和教职员工。
经过两年寻找理想场地，并招募了她的教师朋友，亚当·J·刘易斯幼儿园于2013年在布里奇波特开学，最初仅有12名学生。但学校的关注度和支持率迅速飙升。
最引人注目的支持来自我父亲的前雇主KBW。我的母亲联系了他们，希望他们能参与学校的初创工作。KBW慷慨赞助了幼儿园的游乐场，但支持并未止步于此。我父亲的密友兼同事、现任KBW首席执行官汤姆·米肖至今仍在支持这所学校。
在获得众多捐赠者和学生的广泛关注后，我的母亲决定将学校按年级逐步扩建，并于2018年重新更名为亚当·J·刘易斯学院。
2025年，康涅狄格州布里奇波特的亚当·J·刘易斯学院的师生。帕梅拉·埃纳尔森摄影有限责任公司 摄
如今，AJLA已有近200名学生，覆盖学前教育到八年级，我为我的母亲感到无比自豪。每次我回到康涅狄格州看望她和这所学校时，都对她取得的成就以及这所学校产生的深远影响感到难以置信。
我父亲的遗产不仅以学校的名字被永久铭记，更通过这些孩子们延续了下去。
2001年9月11日是一场非同寻常且令人恐惧的悲剧，但失去也伴随着新生。我只能惊叹于AJLA对当下儿童产生的影响。
正如汤姆·米肖对我说的：“9/11的故事还没有写完”，25年后的今天，AJLA正在用每一名学生书写新的篇章。
How my father’s legacy is changing the future for hundreds of kids: “The story of 9/11 is not done being written”
2026-09-10T20:29:00-0400 / CBS News
Every September, the school bells ring for the first time, and my mom, Patty Lewis, pulls out her speaker. Blasting her favorite ’80s music, she welcomes students to the Adam J. Lewis Academy — a school named after my dad, her husband, Adam, who was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.
My dad grew up in a one-bedroom apartment with his father in the Bronx, New York, attending the public elementary and middle schools in the area. His athletic talent earned him a scholarship to The Dalton School in Manhattan, where he was given the educational opportunity that changed his life. It shaped his belief that education was the ultimate equalizer: No matter where you come from, a strong educational foundation can create a level playing field.
He took that opportunity and ran with it. From Dalton, he went on to Hamilton College, where he met my mom, and eventually began his career at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a financial firm located in the Twin Towers.
When the family grew to four children — Reilly, Sam, Sophie and me — my mom stepped away from teaching to raise us. My dad, an ever-present father, commuted back and forth from New York City to Connecticut, making sure we always felt seen, heard and cared for. Providing for his family meant everything to him, and he understood that his own educational opportunity had made that life possible.
The Lewis family: Adam, Patty and their four children. Caroline Lewis
A decade after 9/11, my mom returned to education, working in admissions at my private school in Westport, Connecticut. She interviewed hundreds of children from neighboring communities, including Bridgeport, a lower-income town with less than satisfactory public schools, and saw firsthand how many potential students lacked the foundational skills needed to succeed. Too often, those children were turned away.
She began to wonder: What if someone created a high-quality early childhood program that gave these students the foundation they needed?
The idea stayed with her. Eventually, she shared it with her friend and former teacher, Julie Mombello. Julie initially called her “nuts,” but then listened for six hours as my mom explained how the right educational opportunity could change a child’s life — just as it had changed my dad’s.
In 2011, The Adam J. Lewis Preschool was officially incorporated. Now, my mom needed a building, a permit and a staff.
After searching for two years for the perfect place and recruiting her teacher friends, the Adam J. Lewis Preschool opened in Bridgeport in 2013 with just 12 students. The interest and support skyrocketed.
Most notably came support from my dad’s former employer, KBW. My mom reached out to them in hopes of getting them involved with the start of the school. KBW graciously sponsored the playground for the preschool, but it didn’t stop there. Tom Michaud, my dad’s close friend and colleague, and current CEO of KBW, continues to support the school to this day.
After gaining so much interest from donors and students alike, my mom decided to grow the school with each grade, reopening as the Adam J. Lewis Academy in 2018.
Students and staff at the Adam J. Lewis Academy in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 2025. Pamela Einarsen Photography LLC
Today, AJLA has nearly 200 students from pre-K to eighth grade, and I could not be prouder of my mom. Each time I return to Connecticut to visit her and the school, I am in disbelief at how much she was able to accomplish and how impactful this institution has become.
My dad’s legacy has not only been physically enshrined in the name of the school, but his legacy lives on through the children.
Sept. 11, 2001, was an extraordinary and horrific tragedy, but with loss also comes new life, and I can only marvel at the impact AJLA is making on the children of today.
As Tom Michaud told me, “The story of 9/11 is not done being written,” and 25 years later, AJLA is writing new chapters with every student.
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