“OHH”
That’s the sound of success for math teacher Karen Rowe. It’s the moment she knows a lesson went well or a student understood a challenging concept.
“The course that I teach and love, geometry, is a challenging course, and we have to go through it at such a speed, so when you get those aha moments along the way, [even if] that might not show up on a test, that is cool,” Rowe said.
Her teaching philosophy is guided by a quote she hung in her classroom for many years: “Math is not magic but a pattern to discover.”
After 33 years of practicing that philosophy, 25 of which were at WHHS, Rowe has decided to retire at the end of this school year.
Rowe was the student who would answer her classmates’ questions before a test. She found enjoyment in explaining math concepts to others.
“I liked solving puzzles and I always wanted to know when it would be used,” Rowe said.
She found a way to combine her passion for math and teaching at Ohio University’s Patton College of Education. Rowe began her teaching career at Hughes High School as an Algebra I teacher and taught at Crest Hills Elementary and Woodward for three years until finding a home at WHHS.
“I really liked being able to work with kids who wanted to learn or who had the aptitude to learn but needed to be encouraged,” Rowe said.
She recognizes that not every student shares her love for math and the parallel postulate, so she incorporates activities that allow students to “see math in action” into her lessons. On snow days, students built snowmen to learn about similar triangles and points of dilation. When the swimming pool was being built, her classes used the pool blueprints for calculations.
“If math isn’t their thing, I try to reach out and find out what their thing is and create that connection,” Rowe said.
Her enthusiasm for math is no secret to students who’ve taken classes in the math wing. Rowe is known for her ability to project her voice well beyond room 1312.
“My [first] impression [of her] was that she was super passionate about teaching geometry in a way that incorporated proofs and that made sense,” math teacher Jennifer Fay said.
Fay has known Rowe since 2008, and they co-taught geometry for several years.
“She’s super generous… just showing up with flowers or stopping by my house while I was out when my husband was having surgery just because,” Fay said. “She’s a really thoughtful person, and she’s proven that to me, and I’ve been the recipient of her thoughtfulness multiple times.”
Rowe has brought many supplies to WHHS including bigger circular tables for classrooms, whiteboards for teachers, supplies for the office staff and various objects used in art classes through her connection with Crayons to Computers, a non-profit working to ensure teachers can provide their students with supplies to succeed academically.
Looking forward to retirement, Rowe plans on continuing to volunteer at Crayons to Computers, riding her bicycle across the state of North Carolina and traveling around the world with her husband.