INTERVIEW
JUSTIN SOLONYNKA
Middle School Mathematics Teacher, Co–Head Coach,
Middle School Wrestling
CLAY LEWIS
Class of 2022
Justin: How do you remember us first getting to know each other?
Clay: Well, I know that we probably first met at meeting (both are members of the Abington Monthly Meeting), but I would have been really young. I definitely got to know you when I was in 5th grade, before I started at AFS. I went to three or four summer wrestling practices with my brother (Cole Lewis ‘20), because he said, “You should do wrestling when you go to AFS.”
And I wasn’t so sure, but then I went to a few practices, and it was
really fun. And you and Coach Dave (Robinson) were running those practices.
Justin: At what point did you say, “Oh, wow, this is my sport”? Was it all the way back then?
Clay: I didn’t really associate those practices with the actual sport
of wrestling. They were more for getting in shape, so I don’t think it was then. I probably realized that wrestling was my sport halfway through sixth grade when you had me on the middle school team.
Justin: I read your essay about wrestling that was published in Friends Journal (https://www. friendsjournal.org/wrestling-with- defeat/). That was fantastic. Is this something that you still grapple with, the idea of being a Quaker and being a wrestler? Where are you at with that now?
Clay: I think I’m pretty solid with the conclusion I came to in that piece.
I’m sound in my understanding that wrestling isn’t actually a violent sport. You’re not trying to hurt someone. Quakerism says that violence isn’t a solution for
problems. And I feel like the (makes air quotes) “violence” that occurs in wrestling isn’t like, “We’re fighting because we have a problem and we’re going to solve it by throwing hands, man.” This is organized.
We’re going to do this in a respectful way, and we’re going to shake hands and we’re good.
Justin: OK, let’s talk about music.
Clay: Yeah, I wanted to ask you…I’m interested in your role with music at meeting. I feel like at
some point I saw you playing piano and everyone around you was singing, and I was like, “Oh, you do that? That’s kinda cool.” How did that start?
Justin: Well, music is such a huge part of my own spiritual path. And I felt like people wanted more music at our meeting. It wasn’t like I was this lone voice in the wilderness and everybody else was like, “No! No music in meeting!” So it ended up being kind of a nice match because there are all these lovely little opportunities to do music there. I mean, you and I have done a ton of music there together. How about you? How did you get into music?
Clay: My mom used to have gigs where she would go out and sing when I was like 7 or so. And my dad played guitar. So I had a lot of music around me but I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it. And at that time I was much more introverted than I am now, so I was like, “I don’t really want to do stuff in front of people because it’s kind of weird.”
Justin: (laughs) Yeah. I still feel that way sometimes.
Clay: I think it started to be something I really enjoy when I was in sixth grade at AFS, because my mom and my brother had
convinced me to do musical theater. Before that I was like, “There’s no way I’m doing that. I’m not getting on a stage ever.” And they said, “You’ll enjoy it! You should do it.” So I did Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and I loved singing in that, and at that point I’d also been playing drums for a while. And then I started playing drums in the upper school pit orchestras and started doing jazz band. But I think my musical interests all really started from that sixth-grade musical.
Justin: Did you feel supported by the Middle School Theatre program? I mean, did middle school help with your transition to becoming the rock star you are today?
Clay: (laughs) Well, I was a little disappointed in that first show
because I wanted to get a big role, but I was a sixth-grader who had never done a show before, so they just made me an Oompa-Loompa. But I was like, “All right, if I’m gonna be an Oompa-Loompa, I’m gonna be an Oompa-Loompa.” So I was singing that song and doing that dance, and people were noticing it. And after the show, even though I was just an Oompa-Loompa,
people were like, “You were a good Oompa-Loompa, dude. Like, you rocked that.”
Justin: (laughing) Is that true? Are you just making that up?
Clay: No, I’m telling you! People were like, “You were a really good Oompa-Loompa!” And I was like, “OK, thanks, man!” Because, you know, I’d decided that I really needed to do this if I was going
to do it.
Justin: Right. I love that about theater. But for me, personally, the thing that most excites me is the collaborative part of it. Truly one of the best experiences I have ever had in musical theater was when
you and I collaborated on Peter and the Starcatcher. Getting to work with you on that show was nuts.
I just remember us being in the pit, and we were stuffed into along with a piano–what was it, like 10 feet by 5 feet?
Clay: Yeah. I had a snare, and a floor tom, and two different spoon
instruments, and the thunder tube, and the crank instrument, and a microphone so I could make cat noises and burp.
Justin: Oh right, you had to burp on command!
Clay: Actually, I think you made the cat noises. Oh, and you were the crocodile!
Justin: (Makes the crocodile noise.)
Clay: Yeah! It was that. And I had, like, five or six other percussion instruments with me.
Justin: But what was exciting for me was getting to genuinely
collaborate with you. You would say things like, “How about this?” and I’d say, “That sounds great!” It was like one big experiment, and you and I were lab partners.
Clay: There was a lot of liberty with what we could use because we didn’t actually have all of
the things that the score said we needed. So there were a lot of times we were saying, “All right, we need to make this sound. How are we gonna do that?” And because of all the things we had to make up on our own, it felt more like we were doing it together.
Justin: On top of all these interests, you’re also a skilled mathematician. What was your experience of
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middle school math in my class?
Clay: That was awesome. I liked math before, so that probably helped, but I do really well in a class environment where it’s a little more chill and I feel like I have
a relationship with the teacher. That was something that I really appreciated about your class.
Justin: I think that’s true with our middle school faculty as a whole. We genuinely want to build those relationships with students.
Clay: Yeah. I feel like when I can have a relationship with teachers outside of class, have good conversations with them, then when I’m inside the classroom I don’t feel as stressed about it. And when I’m not stressed, I can do and learn so much more.
Justin: So how do you imagine your life after AFS will be influenced by the ways we’ve collaborated and connected? I mean, it’s helpful that we’re both Quaker and we’re at the same meeting, so wherever you go,
I can’t imagine that I’m not going to stay in touch with you. How do
you think the ways we’ve connected might inform your future post-AFS?
Clay: Well, right now I still don’t really know what I want to do at all. I have some ideas, but it’s not like I’m saying “Oh, I’m going to be a doctor and I’m gonna go through med school and…”
Justin: Is that because you
have so many interests? A diversity of talents?
Clay: It’s kind of interesting because a lot of my diverse talents are
ones we share with each other. Like math and music and…I don’t know if Quakerism is really a talent. (laughs)
Justin: Well, it’s a spiritual… starting place.
Clay: I think, during and after college, whatever I do, you are someone that I can come to either for mentorship or for a collaboration or with some little thing like, “Oh, I’m at college for
musical theater now. Can you help me with this?”
Justin: Absolutely.
Clay: Whatever I end up doing, because of the connection that we’ve had with each other, we’re still going to be able to talk about the things that I’m doing and the things that you’re doing and that’ll be great.
Justin: The feeling is mutual.
Read more about The Power of the Personal in Education in the Winter issue of our Oak Leaves magazine.