The message was clear. And if you happen to be friends with Bridgeport High School teacher Alice Rowe on Facebook you can easily find it.

 

A post was made to her page from Danny Goodwin, a former student of Rowe, whose own page says he works at The Columbus Dispatch.

 

In a few short sentences, Goodwin pays homage to Rowe for getting him started in his career in journalism that continues to this day. He also mentions that he just turned 60.

 

Alice Rowe remembered Danny Goodwin. She was still relatively new at her teaching gig at the school situated along Johnson Avenue when she was instructing him.

 

“I was probably eight years older than him and I wondered after reading that wonderful comment how I made an impact because I always thought you needed 10 years just to figure everything out as far as what works and what doesn’t work,” said Rowe. “That comment just made me feel good that I had made a difference in a former student’s life.”

 

It’s not hyperbole to say she made a difference in hundreds and perhaps thousands of lives of students inside Bridgeport High School. That’s the positive collateral damage of being an educator at one school for 48 years.

 

Earlier this week, the end of her time inside the BHS building arrived. Alice Rowe officially let school officials know she was retiring.

 

“When I think about being 72 and that I’ll be 73 in six months, it kind of brings things into perspective. It was time, but now I have to find something to keep me busy because I’m not the type that can sit around and not do anything,” said Rowe. “I guess we’ll soon find out what the future holds.”

 

The future may be uncertain for Rowe. The past is already defined. It’s one marked with students that have participated in her journalism classes that have done great things at places like the aforementioned Columbus Dispatch, as a photographer for the U.S. Navy, working for YouTube, ESPN, The Boomer Esiason Foundation and so many other jobs big, small, local and afar.

 

They were all part of group that became known as “Rowe’s kids.”  This year’s group, which includes students who have spent more than their time after hours working on this year’s yearbook, will be the last.

 

“I always took that as a compliment when they would say a kid was one of Rowe’s kids. I was flattered by that because those students were always hard working,” said Rowe. “What really made it all special is we all worked so many hours and so hard that after it’s over the students became my friends. There are few things better than that.”

 

Outgoing Principal Mark DeFazio believes there are few better in the education arena than Alice Rowe. He paid her the highest of praise when asked about how much of an impact she’s had on Bridgeport High School.

 

“She is the one person you’ll never replace. You can replace a number of us, myself included, but you can’t replace an Alice Rowe,” said DeFazio. “What she’s done for this school, the students and the Alumni and Friends Foundation is tremendous. A lot of people don’t realize the work she puts in on the foundation that has raised thousands in scholarships and she’s made that work because of who she is and because everyone knows her.

 

“You can place Alice easily in the asset column and the best thing is you know she loves what she’s doing because she wouldn’t have spent 48 years here if she didn’t,” DeFazio continued. “She wore so many hats all in the attempt of making things better for the students so she deserves to enjoy whatever is next in her life. Without a doubt, even beyond the excellence and awards and people knowing her for journalism, she is one of the few people that you can say is a face of Bridgeport High School. She’s synonymous with it and she’d be the first to tell you she’s fine with that.”

 

Rowe had kind words about DeFazio as well. She had kind words about the last three BHS principals she worked under, but really singled out DeFazio and Lindy Bennett for keeping her going past the age where she could have easily walked away.

 

“Those two were just exceptional principals who always had my back,” said Rowe. “I felt like I could talk to them about anything and usually did. Bill Moore, just prior to Lindy, was the same way.”

 

Rowe started teaching at Bridgeport during the 1969-70 school year. Some may be surprised to learn it wasn’t her first teaching stint. The woman whose DNA can probably be found in the walls of BHS got her start at Baldwin Whitehall in Pittsburgh, which is a high school near Mt Lebanon where she taught for two years.

 

From 1967 to 1969, Alice Rowe was a fresh out of West Virginia University graduate (AB in English and a minor in journalism at the time) teaching up north. She taught English there and found side work as a school correspondent for the local newspaper while in Pennsylvania.

 

In total, she taught 50 years.

 

Bridgeport didn’t seem it would be a likely destination. After all, she was a WVU and Morgantown High graduate. That all changed because of a man she met in college who happened to be from Clarksburg and whom she ended up marrying – Dave Rowe. He came back to Harrison County for work purposes and Alice Rowe headed south as a result. The rest is educational history.

 

Alice Rowe succeeded Lucy Romano, another familiar local name. Rowe initially taught journalism and English and began handling the yearbook and newspaper. Today, nearly half a century later, she’s still doing many of those things and more from photography and the school’s Web site to school plays and Shop for Tots and much, much more.

 

Despite those responsibilities, Rowe managed to find time to expand on her own education. She went on to earn a Master’s Degree (plus 40) in Public Relations from WVU.

 

So how on earth did she do it? Rowe said it was simple. She wanted to do it.

 

“We worked hard in school, but I never considered going to school going to work. I never considered it a job,” said Rowe. “It was what I did and I looked forward to it every day. There’s been nothing better knowing I would get to spend my time every day with those wonderful kids.

 

“I think, even when we were there at 1:30 in the morning finishing up a yearbook, we had fun. The kids have always been that way and very conscientious,” she continued. “That’s why I never felt like I was bogged down by a 9 to 5 job.”

 

Rowe, though, wanted kids to enjoy her class and she wanted talented students there as well. She would occasionally spend time to recruit them when she learned a student was a good writer or had another skill that could lead to a professional career her classes might assist in developing.

 

“I worked at keeping the journalism department successful,” said Rowe. “It was important to me and I wanted it to be important to the kids. An awful lot of those kids went on to use what they learned to get careers in public relations, social media, as photographers and in fields like marketing. They got the background in that classroom and it was something I took pride in seeing and something that made me always want to keep coming back.”

 

For the first time in decades, she won’t be coming back. While she knows it’s the right decision, she knows it’s also a tough one she made.

 

“I’m just going to miss those kids. They are a part of my family,” said Rowe. “I just love the school and love the kids I’ve taught. I couldn’t imagine having taught anywhere else.”