SEPTEMBER 1, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
KeizerCommunity
KEIZERTIMES.COM
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
Christine Bowlby, left, is transferring to Keizer Elementary School after serving as the principal at Washington for fi ve years. Stacey Lund, right, comes to Weddle Elementary from Pringle, where
she was the principal for fi ve years.
New principals at elementary schools
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Two Keizer elementary
schools will have new prin-
cipals when the 2017-18
year begins on Wednesday,
Sept. 6—Christine Bowlby
at Keizer Elementary and
Stacey Lund at Weddle El-
ementary.
Bowlby is transferring
from Washington Elemen-
tary, where she was principal
for the last fi ve years, but she
already calls Keizer home.
Her oldest son will be a
seventh grader at Whiteaker
Middle. Bowlby also has twin
boys entering the fourth
grade at Keizer Elementary.
Her husband, Ryan, is the
head coach of the McNary
High School boys lacrosse
team and three of their sons
play lacrosse, football and
basketball. Christine has
coached for the Keizer Youth
Basketball Association.
“I have a passion for mak-
ing an impact on my com-
munity,” Bowlby said. “This
is actually my home. This is
my kids’ school. I’m a big
proponent on schools being
a part of the community and
being a resource for families
so now I get to make an im-
pact in my community where
I live. I’m looking forward
to working with local busi-
nesses, families, everybody, to
really support Keizer’s com-
munity.”
Bowlby grew up in Hood
River, graduated from West-
ern Oregon University, did
her student teaching in Sa-
lem-Keizer and never left.
Following in the footsteps
of her father, Bowlby always
wanted to be a teacher. She
taught at Fruitland Elemen-
tary for fi ve years and then at
Swegle for six years, where
she transitioned to an in-
structional coach for the fi nal
two years before becoming
the principal at Washington.
“I had principals always
say that they thought that
would be a good role for me,
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being an administrator, and
they just encouraged me,”
Bowlby said. “I’ve loved it
(being a principal). I didn’t
think I would at fi rst because
I love working with kids. As
an administrator, (I thought)
you don’t get as much kid
contact but you actually do
and I feel like you get to help
them and support their fami-
lies.”
Bowlby wants to spend
her fi rst year getting to know
the 695 students and close to
80 staff at Keizer Elementary.
She wants parents to know
that her door is always open.
“I always return messages,
phone, email,” Bowlby said.
“I want to talk and get to
know everybody and help
support their kids. I’m always
open to talk and help them
the best I can. I may not al-
ways have the right answer or
the answer they want but I’m
always willing to listen.”
Lund comes to Weddle
after spending the last fi ve
years as the principal of Prin-
gle Elementary.
While her mom was a
science teacher and then a
counselor, Lund wanted to
follow a different path. She
played basketball and got her
bachelor’s degree in jour-
nalism at the University of
Wyoming.
Lund then contemplated
joining the Peace Corps be-
fore fi nally deciding to go
into education.
She taught fourth and fi fth
grade at Hayesville for seven
years and then became an in-
structional coach at Harritt
Elementary.
Switching to the adminis-
trative side took getting used
to.
“You don’t have your own
classroom,” Lund said. “That
was a big change. When
you’re a teacher, you build
this community of kids in
your classroom. It’s your own
little city, your own team and
the fi rst year that you don’t
have that and you step out-
side of the classroom, it’s kind
of sad. You don’t have holi-
days that you are celebrat-
ing with your class. You don’t
have that same relationship
with kids. It’s different. But
you get to know more kids
and you get to help more
kids. That’s how I balance it.”
While Weddle is her fi rst
Title IX school, Lund has a
passion for families that need
more support. She also prides
herself on being a good lis-
tener.
“I would hope that, rather
puzzle answers
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