Welcome to Tom Lewis' web site. I am 31 years old and live in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. I have cerebral palsy and hope that some of the advice and web links I have on my site will help some other people like myself. My earliest memories of school are the years I spent at Countryside Elementary School here in Mt. Laurel. My Principal was the wonderful and loving Ms. Hattie E. Green. My first teacher was Mrs. Betty Ballantyne in fourth grade. She was a wonderful lady and she had a lot of faith in me. If I did not know her, I would not be where I am today. In fifth grade I had Mrs. Liz Anderson. She was absolutely one of the toughest teachers I ever had. I loved her a great deal and had a lot or respect for her. Even when she had to raise her voice I knew she was doing it out of love. In sixth grade I had my first and only male teacher, Mr. Richard Gair. He was my second toughest teacher. I think he went to the same school of how to be tough as Mrs. Anderson did. Having both those teachers two years in a row was sort of like being in a boxing match and getting a right and then a left punch to the jaw. Mr. Gair also believed in me a great deal and pushed me to my limits. At the same time I had the famous or infamous Ms. Cheryl Cardinale as my Resource Room teacher every year. Imagine having her for part of your day every year and these other two tough teachers the rest of your day for two years in a row, WOW! Another special teacher I had was my music teacher, Mr. Jack Jeckot. I loved him a lot. He always told me I was able to do anything I set my mind on and also introduced me to music. I still talk to him like I never left the school at all.
After Countryside I went to Harrington Middle School. Guess who followed me to that school? Yea, Cheryl Cardinale just couldn't get enough of my loving sweet personality and face. Talk about torture, wow! Anyway, she was actually very dedicated to my education and wanted to be by my side once again. Now remember that middle school was a two year experience so that meant another two years of Ms. Cardinale. If you are doing your math that makes five, yes five years with her hounding me and pushing me to heights I never dreamed of accomplishing.
My next school was the famous Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. That's the same school that Helen Keller attended. Being only 14 at the time it was very difficult to be that far away from my family and friends. It took me a very long time to adjust to this new way of living. The weather in Boston was a lot colder than I was used to. Winters seemed much longer. I couldn't wait to go home for the holidays to be with my friends and family again. It was also very hard on my parents to send a 14 year old to a school so far away. I also missed my sister Colleen who went away to college that same year. I was at Perkins for five years. There I was able to earn my high school diploma and learn how to depend on myself and not others as I had always done before.
When I finished Perkins I took a year off to do some soul searching. During that year I decided that I would attend college at Burlington County College. I was a student at BCC for five years where I earned my Associate of Arts Degree.
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This site designed by Tom
Lewis and Richard Gair, Tom's former 6th grade teacher.
Webmaster, Professor Richard A. Gair, Longwood, Florida
http://home.cfl.rr.com/rgair