Penny Lewis P'83: A passage to learning

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Visit Penny Lewis at her house boat on Portage Bay and you immediately feel how at home she is by the water. Her adventures on the water began 28 years ago, when her daughter Karen (Lakeside Class of '83) suggested she try rowing. Rowing was Karen's passion and she had participated in the sport actively while at Lakeside. Lewis says, "Karen is very tall and wanted to compete in a sport. She had little experience playing basketball, but with rowing, all athletes started from the beginning and grew their skills together. She achieved great things including being chosen to compete in France at the World Rowing Junior Championships in 1983, coached by Martha Beattie, head crew coach at Lakeside and coach of the USRowing Junior Women's National Team that year. Karen continued her rowing while at Brown University."

With her daughter's encouragement, Lewis began learning to row at a local club in 1983. Soon she became a co-founder of Martha's Moms Rowing Club—named in honor of Martha Beattie, the club's first coach. The initial group included co-founders (and fellow Lakeside moms) Gretchen Hull and Dinny Polson, along with nine others. They never imagined that they were starting a tradition which over the years has taught more than 200 women to row and compete worldwide.

For 15 years Martha's Moms rowed out of the A. D. Ayrault, Jr. Shellhouse, Lakeside's boat house at the north end of Lake Washington in Kenmore. They were among of the earliest supporters of the Friends of Lakeside Rowing, a group of Lakeside parents who raised money to support the school's rowing program. Dan Ayrault, Lakeside's headmaster at the time and an Olympic gold-medal rower himself, thought the program was an excellent example of life-long learning and gave it his blessing. The group now rows out of the Lake Washington Rowing Club on Lake Union.

Because of her commitment to rowing, in 1985 Lewis was asked to join the board of the George Pocock Rowing Foundation—an organization that promotes access to and excellence in rowing. Lewis served on that board for 20 years. During much of the same period, from 1981 to 1990, she was also serving on the Lakeside Board of Trustees. In addition, Lewis began volunteering for the Lakeside Educational Enrichment Program (LEEP), the six-week summer program for rising 9th graders, operated in partnership with Seattle Public Schools. LEEP also offers support such as college counseling to LEEP graduates during their high-school years. T.J. Vassar, then-LEEP director, partnered with the Pocock Foundation to incorporate rowing into the program's curriculum. The sport of rowing emphasizes the core values of LEEP—respect for yourself and others, active participation, risk taking. Rowing has remained a key component of the LEEP summer activities.

"Programs that give young people the chance to try rowing are transformative and I'm pleased to see this kind of outreach in action with both LEEP and Pocock's Rainier Valley Rowing program," Lewis says.

Lewis has chosen to name Lakeside School in her will, among other organizations to which she has devoted her time, including: Overlake School, from which her son Greg graduated; the George Pocock Rowing Foundation; the Arboretum Foundation; Susan B. Komen Foundation; and Trust for Public Land. She says, "These are places that have made difference in my life and in the community and I am passionate about what they do."

"Part of my reason for naming Lakeside is because it was an important part of my life for a long time as a parent and a member of the Lakeside Board. I watched Karen and her friends blossom with all the opportunities and challenges they were offered by the school and faculty. What a wonderful place Lakeside is for so many young people! Because the teachers are the ones who often make the critical difference for students, I wanted to share some of my treasure to help insure that the school will be able to attract and retain the best teachers possible for future students." Lewis has directed her bequest to the Dexter K. Strong Faculty Endowment.

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an individual or organization designated to receive benefits or funds under a will or other contract, such as an insurance policy, trust or retirement plan

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