On the wall of her classroom at Christa McAuliffe School, kindergarten teacher Christine Holliday-Rowe kept a “Wall of Fame,” featuring a photo of each student. Beside it was a list of “I can” statements.

“I can read and write 20 sight words,” one student’s statement reads. “I can write my whole name with the correct letters,” reads another.

By the end of each school year, the classroom wall becomes crowded with “I can” papers, as each student surpassed their old milestone and reached another.

For Holliday-Rowe, the wall held two purposes – it allowed her to track each student’s progress individually, but it also allowed her students to see and celebrate their own progress and feel empowered knowing what they achieved.

Holliday-Rowe, who is remembered for her unwavering dedication to her students, died March 7 at age 39 following a battle with breast cancer. She is survived by her husband Ernest Rowe, who is a Title I tutor at Christa McAuliffe School, and their children Amelia, 6, and Patton, 3. Last week, school employees and parents reflected on Holliday-Rowe’s nine years in the Concord School District and her legacy as a selfless colleague who worked quietly, often behind the scenes, to serve others every single day.

“She was very dedicated, incredibly smart, very loving and caring,” said kindergarten teacher Betty Hoadley. “The thing that stands out for me is her compassion for the children and their families. It didn’t stop at the classroom door; it carried through the school as well and to the community.”

Ernest Rowe described his wife as a “natural-born teacher” who ran her classroom in a “joyful, structured and productive” way and always lived her life to the fullest.

“My heart breaks for the years lost, but I’m grateful for the 19 years I had with her,” Rowe said in an email. “I feel sorrow for our children to have lost her when they were so young, but I’m grateful that she was here long enough to show them what love is. We’re going to miss her for the rest of our lives, but we will never forget what an incredible example of strength, bravery and compassion she gave us.”

Mrs. Holliday, as she was known to her students, started her career working for seven years as a permanent substitute teacher in the Merrimack Valley School District, but it was always her dream to become a classroom teacher. In 2014 she switched to a reading tutor position at Christa McAuliffe School, and after spending two years proving herself, she interviewed and was offered a kindergarten teaching position.

Holliday-Rowe’s colleagues describe her as having a quiet nature but a witty sense of humor. During the school day she was known for putting on a pair of roller skates and skating through the hallways as a way of making students smile. She often wore fun clothes to work, like dresses with a rainbow or watermelon pattern, which she knew the students would like. She had little songs that she would sing with students for every occasion, including a song to go with each “sight word” that children are encouraged to memorize while they are learning to read.

“It’s really easy to get caught up in the negative, and she always just taught me that everything can be done, everything can be figured out, and not to get flustered and stressed,” said kindergarten teacher Jamie Nazzaro, who saw Holliday-Rowe as a mentor.

Holliday-Rowe was known for being meticulous in her work, coming in on Sundays and arriving early each morning to make sure everything was prepared ahead of her lessons. She would often complete tasks for her colleagues before they even thought to ask. She celebrated every student’s half-birthday.

“She was always the unsung hero,” said retired reading specialist Heidi Fyfe. “She would do things for kids, for staff members, but it was always very quiet.”

Kindergarten teacher Debra Caldwell remembered that Holliday-Rowe would quietly leave snacks in a first-grade classroom where she knew there was a child who experienced food insecurity. It took months before staff figured out it was Holliday-Rowe who was doing it. She also kept a box of free winter clothes in her classroom for students who didn’t have their own.

“She gave everything of herself to serve others, and that never changed about her,” said fifth grade teacher Becky Taylor. “It was from the day she started until the day she died that she was in service to others.”

When COVID necessitated remote and hybrid learning in 2020, Holliday-Rowe went out of her way to make sure students had what they needed, even dropping off school supplies at their homes. She held socially distanced classes in the park, where families would sit on blankets while she read books.

“During COVID, I could see that my daughter was really struggling with starting school and being remote and not having those connections,” said Concord parent Clara Dietel, whose two children both had Mrs. Holliday as their teacher. “It really meant a lot for her to have a teacher who understood her needs and what she going to need in order to be successful.”

Holliday-Rowe was also known for being very artistic. In her spare time she created beautiful stained glass art, which she sometimes gave as gifts. She created a papier maché tree for her classroom, which she re-decorated to match each season. She decorated an artificial Christmas tree for the Bektash Shriners’ “Feztival of Trees” display every year.

When Holliday-Rowe was first diagnosed with breast cancer in the fall of 2021, the school community rallied around her. Parents held benefit events to raise funds for her and launched a GoFundMe campaign in December 2021, which is still operational and is now collecting donations to support her family.

In May 2022, Holliday-Rowe was named Christa McAuliffe School’s Distinguished Educator of the year in a ceremony at the district’s central office.

Holliday-Rowe remained dedicated to her work and continued to teach right up until mid-February. Her colleagues said she maintained a hopeful and positive attitude and never complained, even as her illness progressed. On her most difficult days, Holliday-Rowe would play Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” during movement time for the children to dance to.

“Even when she started to physically decline the last few weeks, and she was in a lot of pain, she still came in every day,” recalled educational assistant Kristy Tibbetts, who worked in Holliday-Rowe’s classroom. “She never complained.”

After transitioning to hospice care, Holliday-Rowe read books to students who came to visit with their parents, right up until her final week.

“It looked like a classroom she was running in the hospice room,” Fyfe recalled.

Holliday-Rowe also recorded a video for her class, where she read a book and sung the “goodbye song” that she usually sang to her students at kindergarten graduation. On Wednesday, the day after Holliday-Rowe’s passing, the students sang the goodbye song at school.

Upstairs at Christa McAuliffe School, Holliday-Rowe’s former kindergarten classroom is still set up the way she arranged it at the beginning of the year, with the wall of fame, the papier maché tree and the box of free winter clothes. Long-term substitute teacher Sarah Miner, who has taken over Holliday-Rowe’s class for the remainder of the year, said in keeping the classroom the same, she hopes to provide some comfort to the students.

“I’ve been trying to let them know that this classroom is still hers, you’re still surrounded by all the things she made you and gave you and wanted you to use,” Miner said. “It’s what the kids are used to, and it’s what they love.”

Permanent substitute Zoie MacDonald said her memories of Holliday-Rowe will continue to inspire her work moving forward.

“I think the best thing we can all do is try to live our lives and teach how Christine did,” MacDonald said.

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