After a yearlong deployment in Iraq, music teacher is back in class

Music teacher turned Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Lewis could only occasionally make the call from his job in division headquarters inside Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq.

But when he did call "home" to Cedarcrest High School's band room, he could hear the excitement and anxiety of students practicing for a choir or band performance. Sometimes he would talk to parents from the music department's booster club about the latest fundraiser or upcoming musical program.

From a war zone thousands of miles away, Lewis, 34, kept tabs on his students and in touch with Cedarcrest staff and the substitute teachers filling in for him while he fulfilled his commitment as an Army reservist.

"I'd tell them [the students] to keep up the good work, that I'd expect to hear good things from that concert they were going to next week," said Lewis, who is based out of Fort Lewis.

Lewis returned to the Duvall school this month after a yearlong deployment in Iraq, happy to resume his role as the school's music director and get back into a hectic schedule of classes and performances.

For the first time in several years, he plans to be around for the entire school year.

His first overseas deployment was to Bosnia in 2001, followed by six months in Kosovo in 2003-04. He spent half of the 2004-05 school year and the entire 2005-06 school year in Iraq.

Through e-mails and calls, his students followed his journeys to military hot spots around the world.

And even though he wasn't with them, watching Lewis was inspiring, they say.

"Before he left, he explained that a long time ago he had made a commitment, and now he had to live up to that commitment," said Heather Cross, 17, a senior whom Lewis taught as a sophomore. "It inspired me personally. I'm sure he wasn't happy to go, but he gave it his fullest. So when I'd have a class I didn't like, I'd think, 'Well, he's doing something a lot worse, what's one class?' "

In Iraq, Lewis' job was to help coordinate supplies for schools and villages. He delivered a truckload of books to a university in Baghdad and shoes, clothes and soccer balls to children in outlying villages.

"Look at the smile on this boy's face," he said, pointing to photos in his band-room office. "It's good knowing we contributed to human assistance and to people who needed support. But it was like having two lives. Once I left, it was time to unplug, and move on."

On a recent morning, Lewis was pure energy as he conducted the concert choir.

The teens, ranging from freshmen to seniors, quickly perked up as Lewis walked them through vocal warm-ups and several rounds of "Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do."

"He has a passion for the music and for the students," said junior Hilary Grumman, 16. "I feel that come off of him when we are practicing, and it makes you want to do well."

Lewis has always been the kind of person who brings a lot of energy to everything he does, said Chris Crumpler, who grew up with Lewis in Spokane and attended college with him at Central Washington University in Ellensburg.

"He'd always be bouncing off the walls," said Crumpler, who teaches percussion for Cedarcrest's marching band. "But ... he'll work harder than most people, which is why I think he was able to go into the military and still stay a part of things here."

There have been subtle changes in Lewis since he has returned from Iraq, say some who work with him.

"Things that used to bother him, and would bother most people, are not as big a deal to him now," said Cedarcrest principal Clarence Lavarias. "Sometimes we'll be talking about some issue, and we'll say, 'Well, it sure beats Iraq.' It puts it into perspective."

Lewis, who started teaching at Cedarcrest in 1996, was looking for a little adventure and a way to pay off student loans when he started chatting with an Army recruiter who was on campus to talk to students in fall 1998. He eventually signed up for the reserves.

"I wanted to do something totally different," he said. "I wanted to have a world experience, to travel and learn other languages and help do humanitarian assistance."

With his eight-year commitment ending in December, Lewis plans to focus on earning a master's degree in education, with the help of the GI Bill.

Focusing on two jobs "that are equally important to you and other people," has been hard, he said.

"It's been painful to remove yourself from something you love," he said. "It's good to be home."

Rachel Tuinstra: 206-515-5637 or rtuinstra@seattletimes.com