In a night filled with speeches, history and food, Bowman High School celebrated its 50th anniversary Tuesday.
Started in 1969, Bowman High School has seen thousands of students and faculty come through its doors with a number of them being in attendance Tuesday night. The event was designed, according to school administrators, to showcase the history of all the people who have walked through the school doors, and left a mark on the campus.
“We have people speaking, rooms designated for each decade with slideshows and pictures of the school and students from each of those years,” said Bowman Assistant Principal Nina Zamora. “We have people who came from out of state, postcards to fill out with where people are coming back from.”
According to Zamora, the reason for the trans-state and transnational travel of those in attendance is because Bowman has changed students’ lives.
“We’ve taken the students who weren’t successful in comprehensive school, whether they had anxiety issues or dropped out, and we’ve made it possible through making a connection with students, having smaller class sizes, to having a different outlook on how to work with students,” Zamora said.
In addition to having a school motto this year that says, “You Matter,” Bowman’s small campus allows for their campus supervisors to form familial, mentor-mentee relationships with the students, which can lead to more student successes, Zamora said.
One such campus supervisor who was standing in the “Bowman of the ’80s room” was Jay Trower, who said that every day he has one-on-one conversations with 60 to 100 students.
“It’s real important to have a safe environment and have people playing different roles,” said Trower. “The role we play is more like aunts and uncles, and the teachers have their teacher-student relationships.”
“Our principal instated the slogan, ‘You Matter,’” said Trower. “The kids that are coming here understand they matter, whereas in some instances at their old schools, they fell through the cracks. You matter, and we have time here to show you you matter. It’s an incubator for greatness.”
After the walk-arounds and parent-teacher visits, as the 50th anniversary celebration was both the anniversary celebration and an open house, those in attendance heard speeches from district officials and former school faculty, as well as students. They then walked around and spoke with one another.
“Before I came to Bowman, I had no idea what I wanted to do or who I wanted to be,” said Derek Rodriguez, a Bowman senior. “But, now, I got a better idea, and I know now that I’m going to college at College of the Canyons.”
