Armstrong Adoption Testimonial - Part 4

As the weeks progressed, the student’s level of academic and vocational achievement escalated. Every evening for homework, the students would write journals that were at least one page in length and turn them into me the next day. On standardized and academic tests, these students who are labeled with the alphabet soup were scoring higher and higher. I made it a point to see each student on a daily basis where they could speak with me and let me know how things were going. At my desk was placed a chair that students could sit in and ask for time to speak one on one. Frequently the time I set aside for the students was utilized with stories and needs that always touched me.

One day I was stumped for words. A student of mine came in and was very distraught as she sat at my desk wanting to talk. She arrived 45 minutes before the school bell rang for the day. Over the weekend, the girl’s mom did not show up for her visitation and the case worker stopped by her foster home for a visit. The student’s mom had every intention of terminating her parental rights for my student and her younger sister. The grim reality that my student and her caseworker talked about that evening was how her mom’s decision would affect the pair of sisters and what plan would be put into place for each of them. With tears in her eyes, this student sat at my desk and asked me why after 17 years of being in and out of her mom’s house and foster care that her mom would give up now. She wondered what she had done that caused her mom to make this decision. She wondered why she put up with 17 years of being beaten physically and emotionally as well as standing by her mom’s side to support her only to have her mom walk away with no remorse. Even more troubling was the fact that this young girl had to make the decision to have her caseworker put her sister up for adoption and leave herself in foster care. “You see Mrs. Armstrong,” she told me, “nobody will adopt my sister as long as they have to adopt me with her. Nobody wants a 17 year old.” I was literally stumped for words and all I could do was offer a hug and shoulder to cry on.

Later that evening Mike and I talked about the situation as we often talked about the lives of my student’s and what turmoil they had to endure. Mike turned to me and said, “Can’t we offer them a home?” We talked at length that night about what we could do to help out the young people in this same situation. Later in the week I received a call from the foster parents for one of my students. They were doing their routine follow up on how the child in their care was doing. After our lengthy update, the parent then said to me, “You know, I hear what great people you and your husband are and we are often looking for good foster families.” I closed by telling her that I would consider the offer. A few days later I was presented with a three page typed essay that was written by a group of my students. In this essay they presented to me the reality of adoption and fostering. The students commented on the pros and cons of each situation including the amount of time that we would need to devote to the children in our home. This particular essay closed with a lengthy description of why Mike and I would make wonderful parents for any child and a recommendation for us to open our home up. In the days that followed, we received several packets of information from agencies throughout the county that the students hand delivered to us. In addition, we received articles about fostering and adoption from my students as well.