This year, amid a pandemic, FOX 12 will regularly go inside Keizer Elementary to share the stories of teachers, staff and students firsthand, in a new series called “Keizer Strong.”
Lizi Aguilar-Nelson, who is in her first year as the principal of Keizer Elementary, shared about the love she already has for the school.
“The first time I came to Keizer and I opened my car door and I looked at the school, it’s a beautiful school from outside but the truth is, this is a building right,” said Aguilar-Nelson. “A school is really when kids are here, when parents are here, when community members are here, when instruction is happening, that’s really what makes a building a school.”
Being at a new school in the middle of a pandemic provides a unique challenge, but she said it didn’t take long to learn the current empty building is in no way a representation of Keizer or the people who aren’t here to fill it.
“Nowadays, it is a little bit different or a lot a bit different, but instruction is still happening, teachers are still collaborating, working together,” said Aguilar-Nelson. “That relationship among community, parents, students, teachers is there and it’s stronger.”
“I think the saying it takes a community, take a village to raise a kid, right now during this pandemic, it’s really when we see it and I’ve seen it and I’ve experienced it almost every day,.”
FOX 12 will share the stories that come out of Keizer Elementary throughout the school year, on air and online.