The following article appeared in the June 23rd edition of
the Webb Weekly and is reproduced here with permission
from that publisher and from John Riedel, the author.
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Patricia A. Lowery, Ph.D.
As valedictorian of her senior class at West Hazleton High School, Patricia Lee Antonelli promenaded across Harman-Geist Memorial Stadium to the refrains of Pomp and Circumstance, and later received a diploma from the school’s principal, who just happened to be her father. From that moment on, the petite Italian-American was predisposed to a professional career as an educator—and what an illustrious career it has proved to be.
Dr. Lowery, the daughter of Francis and Josephine Antonelli, has fond memories of growing up in Hazleton, along with her siblings, Joanne and Francis, Jr. Family celebrations and picnics drew them closely together, as did her parents’ involvement in community activities, i.e., the Lions Club, VFW, and the public library. As a youngster, she took particular pride watching her father and his brothers march in the Veterans Day parades.
In high school, her favorite subjects were Latin and Chemistry, the latter taught by Mrs. Burgess, her favorite teacher. In addition to her participation in cheerleading, the drama club, the school spirit club, and as a Junior Rotarian, Pat volunteered her time working with special education students, a harbingering focus that would characterize her professional career as an educational administrator.
At Penn State she earned a B.S. degree (conferred With High Distinction) in Education of Exceptional Children, and worked during the summer months as an instructional aide for retarded children at the White Haven State School and Hospital. For the next four years she taught primary trainable retarded children in the Penns Valley Area School District, while earning an M.Ed. degree in Counselor Education from PSU.
During a three-year stint teaching secondary gifted students in the Bellefonte Area School District, Pat worked with a school psychologist named Paul Lowery, who seven years later would become her husband.
In the ensuing years, Pat Antonelli Lowery enhanced her expertise in the area of Special Education while working toward a Ph.D. in Education Administration from her alma mater, which program she completed with a perfect 4.00 GPA.
From December 1995 through September 2000, Dr. Lowery served as Superintendent of Schools for the West Branch School District in Morrisdale, before assuming her current position as Superintendent of the Williamsport Area School District, thus far the capstone of her meteoric rise to prominence within Pennsylvania’s educational system.
Over the years, Dr. Lowery has been elected to the following posts: the Alumni Society Board of Directors for the PSU College of Education; as a PASA Board of Governors Women’s Caucus Representative; and president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) Women’s Caucus. She was also selected as one of 30 superintendents nationwide in 1997 to attend the Van Andel Educators Institute, as a trainer for the Pennsylvania State School Study Council Superintendent Leadership Development Program for 1999-02, and in 2001 as a member of the Pennsylvania Superintendent Advisory Committee for Assessment.
Current affiliations include: the American Association of School Administrators, National Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, National Staff Development Council, Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, Pennsylvania School Boards Association, and Pennsylvania Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Continuing the Antonelli tradition established by her parents, Pat is active in community service, having served on the Board of Directors of the Lycoming Health Improvement Coalition and that of the YMCA, and on the James V. Brown Library Board of Trustees, in addition to her participation with Rotary Club of Williamsport and the Lycoming County United Way.
Some of the major accomplishments during her four-year tenure as head of the Williamsport school district include the following: development of an Entry Plan, a collective vision strategic plan that is a “living document”; a significant increase in PSSA scores, as much as 30% in some schools; a district-wide, full-day kindergarten; modification of the supervision and evaluation process for administrators; and construction of a stronger communication bridge between the school district and the community that supports it.
All this seems like an awful lot for one individual to accomplish—and it is. However, people who have spent as little as five minutes conversing with the diminutive educator with the infectious smile, have all come away with the same impression: WOW!
Pat Lowery possesses a quiet aura of intelligence, integrity, and a sense of purpose that resonates with men, women, and children from every ethnic and economic stratum. At once, she is dignified, yet informal and approachable; powerful in her presence, but not overbearing; and demanding with high expectations, the latter framed within an attitude capable of understanding. And she carries it all off with an irrepressible sense of humor.
In response to my question of how she perceives her role as head of the Williamsport Area School District, she said, “As a champion for children and a formidable public presence for education.” Borrowing from the Latin she learned back in high school, one could conclude that the raison d’être for this dedicated educator is found in the expression, Maxima debetur puero reverentia, We owe the greatest respect to a child.
And Pat Lowery is not the only member of her family who abides by that belief. Things must get a bit confusing when someone calls her home asking for “Dr. Lowery.” Her husband, Paul Lowery, who has his Doctorate in School Psychology, once taught social studies at the high school level, and is currently employed as a consultant for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Pat’s brother Francis is the principal at Heights Terrace Elementary/Middle School, and her sister Joanne is a school nurse at Drums Elementary School, both in Hazleton.
In an age of spiraling costs, deepening social issues, and unrest among the taxpayers of her district, Dr. Lowery is challenged with preparing and balancing a budget that will best serve the needs of the 6,000 students whose futures will be profoundly impacted by her leadership. Among the immediate goals she hopes to accomplish are implementation of the “No Child Left Behind” initiative, and continuing efforts to market the WASD, both at a micro level inside the community and at a macro level outside the community boundaries. Her longer-term goals include a differentiated supervision model for teachers, and more significant district/parent/community collaboration concerning attendance and dropout issues.
Ultimately, she strives to create a diversity-rich student body, and to provide each child with the “roots and wings” necessary to free him or her from any limitations—real or imagined—that might impede his or her personal odyssey to become the next Pat Lowery.
The citizens of Williamsport are blessed to have this extraordinary leader at the helm of their school district. She is clearly the quintessential educational administrator.
—John Riedel
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