New Teacher Spotlight: Mr. Brian Provow
Written by: Sumu Khurshed (‘30)
During the month of October 2026, I interviewed Mr. Brian Provow, a relatively new teacher at Lawrence High School. He originally joined us halfway through last school year as a Special Education English teacher, but this year is his first full year with us.
Mr. Provow was born in Illinois, but he grew up in New Jersey. He graduated from Manalapan High School in 2000, went to UMass for a year, and attended Brookdale Community College part-time from 2001-2005. He also worked at Barnes and Noble during those years. In Fall 2005, he became a paraprofessional at Freehold Borough and worked with kids with disabilities, such as autism and down syndrome. When he started working as a paraprofessional, he fell in love with it and stayed in that position until Spring 2009.
Mr. Provow also attended Monmouth University from 2007-2010, and he graduated with an Education Degree, English Degree, specialization in Special Education, and minored in History. After graduating, he went to the University of Roehampton in London from Fall 2010-2011 to get his master’s degree. Since Mr. Provow loved it in London, he chose to stay there for three years and worked for Apple during that time. He states, “While in London, I was working for Apple and helping to train our staff on accessibility options on Apple technology! Friends and I also helped launch training options for customers who had visual impairment.” In Spring 2014, he left London to take care of his grandparents.
In Fall 2019, Mr. Provow went back to teaching and got a job as a substitute at Howell High School. In January 2020, he got a job as a long-term substitute at Manalapan and stayed there until June 2021. He also worked at Hightstown High School, but eventually became a substitute teacher there in May 2025. In January 2026, he took over for Mr. Mark Cramer, a beloved English Special Education teacher, who retired until the end of the year. This year, he got hired here full-time, and currently teaches six classes; an English I class with Mr. Foster, three English IV classes with Mrs. Harding, and two English IV classes by himself. This year is also his sixth year teaching altogether!
Mr. Provow’s favorite part of LHS is how welcoming and diverse it is, and also how there are students from every part of the world. He also considers LHS a very good school that strives for togetherness and pushes every student to be their best, and also try their best.
Mr. Provow wanted to be a teacher because he likes to help people and share his love for literature. He also wants to teach people how to find evidence to back up their points, including his own. When Mr. Provow is not teaching, he works for customer service at ShopRite and for a raceway park in Englishtown, New Jersey. He is also an avid reader, and his favorite book right now is Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Not to mention, he loves baseball and watching the Mets. He even enjoys listening to music. He is eclectic about it and likes any type of music. His current favorite artists are Bad Bunny and Dominic Fike. In addition, he loves walking as a form of exercise, going to movies,dinner with friends, and visiting parks, museums, and zoos.
When asked about one interesting fact about himself people would not know, he shared that “[He comes] from a family of educators: [His] mother, [his] little brother, multiple aunts and cousins! It’s in the blood!” Thank you Mr. Provow for agreeing to be interviewed for the Lawrencian! Enjoy the rest of your time at LHS!
(L-R) Mr. Szeto, Ms. Xue, Mrs. Gladney, Mr. Walsh, Mr. Le, Mr. Rajput, Mr. Provow, and Ms. Tahiraj
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