Caroline Lewis was 4 years old when her father, Adam J. Lewis, died in the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001. While the 29-year-old has no actual memories of him, she has grown up hearing stories about his life and the impact he had on others.
As we mark 25 years since the attacks, Lewis says 9/11 always makes her think about the community that stood tall in the face of tragedy.
"For my family, I think of community, the people that came to our house to be with us, to help raise us, me and my three siblings," Lewis said. "We just think about that when we think about 9/11. And we also think of my dad and his impact on our lives."
A tragedy that became history
Lewis is now a CBS News associate producer. She recently produced a story for the "CBS Evening News" about her family and her mother's experience losing her husband on 9/11.
She says covering the 25-year mark as a journalist adds another layer to a tragedy that has become increasingly distant for younger Americans.
"It's a story about 9/11, but it's also the daughter of a victim that's telling the story, and the daughter is interviewing her own mother who lost her husband on the day of the attack," Lewis said.
Lewis says journalists covering 9/11 need to remember that the event was not simply a historic tragedy. Millions of people were directly affected, and those effects continue 25 years later.
"It's 25 years later and 9/11 is now a page in a history book," she said. "People think about it as, oh, this tragedy that happened in America, but a lot of Americans now don't remember it or weren't alive for it, and they just hear about it."
Turning loss into a legacy
Lewis' mother, Patty Lewis, is an educator who found a way to turn the family's loss into something that could help other children.
After returning to education following 9/11, she worked in admissions at Greens Farms Academy in Westport, where she interviewed prospective kindergarten students. Caroline Lewis says her mother noticed that some children, many from lower-income families in Bridgeport and surrounding communities, lacked the educational foundation needed to succeed at the private school.
That experience led Patty Lewis to create the Adam J. Lewis Preschool in Bridgeport. The nonprofit was formally established in 2011 and opened its doors in 2013 with just 12 students.
The preschool grew over its first five years before expanding into the Adam J. Lewis Academy in 2018. The school added a grade each year, eventually growing into an independent preK-8 school. It now has nearly 200 students.
"My mom, she really stewed with the idea when she went back into education, like, wow. I really want someone or anyone to offer children this educational foundation that my husband got," Lewis said.
The school was created in part to give children the kind of educational opportunity that changed Adam Lewis' own life. The academy describes its mission as providing a rigorous education and opportunities to promising students from all backgrounds.
Lewis says she feels pride when she returns to Connecticut and sees the school her mother created.
"Going back and seeing what my mother had created, I'm beaming with pride," she said.
A growing Bridgeport institution
The academy began in a small West End property before moving to its current campus on State Street in downtown Bridgeport. The school has continued expanding its facilities along with its enrollment, adding classroom space, a STEAM makerspace, middle-school classrooms and an enlarged outdoor area.
The school also uses a sliding-scale tuition model and provides financial aid based on family income and need. The academy says no family is denied admission because of an inability to pay.
The school's growth has been supported by people who knew Adam, including his former colleagues at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, where he worked as a trader. The company sponsored the preschool's playground when the school was getting started and has continued supporting the academy.
"They've been constant supporters ever since," Lewis said.
Remembering through service
Lewis plans to return to Connecticut to participate in a day of community service organized through the school.
The Adam J. Lewis Academy has made Sept. 11 a day of service, with students and others taking part in projects benefiting the local community. So, rather than attending the 9/11 ceremony in New York City, Caroline Lewis said she can think of no better place to be on the somber day marking 25 years since the attacks than at the school bearing her father’s name.
"I'll actually be going back to help with that community service day," Lewis said. "I've been trying to do that every year since they started."
