Lew's Bio

My name is Lewis Craig Lazarow—just Lew for short. I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in English at the Pennsylvania State University, and my Master of Arts in English Literature from Rutgers University. I'm currently a member of the National Council of Teachers of English and the National Education Association, as well as a steering committee member of the New Jersey Writers' Alliance. For the past 11 years I've been an English literature and composition teacher at Moorestown High School in Moorestown, New Jersey. While I've taught a very wide range of course over that time, this year I'm teaching 12th grade College Prep English, 11th grade Advanced Placement English (Language and Composition), Service Learning, Public Speaking and Rhetoric, and Creative Writing. I love teaching medieval British Literature (especially Beowulf and the Canterbury Tales). This is also my 11th year as faculty advisor of the MHS Interact Club, helping my students develop, maintain and improve such service projects as the American Red Cross blood drives, the Powder Puff Flag Football Tournament, Soup for the Soul food bank benefit, and schoolwide Talent Show.

I've been married almost 15 years to my wife, Sharon; we met while we were both students at Penn State and brothers of Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity. We currently live in Marlton, New Jersey. We have two children—our son Jacob is biological, while we adopted our daughter Anya from Russia. Both are 12 and in 6th grade. We also have quite an animal menagerie—2 cats (one, totally deaf and blind in one eye) and 3 dogs (a springer spaniel, a cocker spaniel, and a cocker/schnauzer mix).

I am Jewish. My family attends worship services at Congregation Beth Tikvah in Marlton. My children are preparing for their b'nai mitzvah ceremony next fall.

I started playing French horn in 1981. While I've performed with a variety of concert ensembles, I think I've loved marching band the most. I marched for 4 years high school, then 5 years with the Penn State Marching Blue Band; after graduation, I spent a year as a high school drum major coach. I'm a member of the Penn State Alumni Blue Band Association, and was just elected to be a member of the Executive Board. I'm currently finishing co-authoring a book chronicling the past 10 years of the Blue Band (Into the Game: The Penn State Blue Band 1999-2009) slated for publication in the spring of 2010.

I joined the Boy Scouts of America in 1981, and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in 1987. I was awarded the Vigil Honor of the Order of the Arrow for my work as leader of my lodge's Native American Dance Team; we won 4 consecutive area championships, and competed twice at the National Conference. While at Penn State, I served as Scoutmaster for a troop comprised entirely of mentally and physically challenged Scouts. I currently serve as Assistant Scoutmaster of my son's Scout troop, and am slated to take over as Scoutmaster in June 2010; this summer, I will be attending the National Scout Jamboree as a member of the National Staff.