“It all started with a fire. My biological parents had bills to pay. They gave me up, knowing they may never see me again. A family reached out. I had no idea what adoption was. They didn’t look like me or talk like me. Why were they handing me gifts? Why were my foster parents crying? I didn’t know what was happening. How could I? I was only 6. Soon, I was taken away. Little did I know that plane ride would change my life forever. I was halfway across the world.”
‘Wen, we’d like to adopt you.’ My body was burned and abandoned on a doorstep. I was given a second chance at life.’: Burn survivor adopted from foster care system, ‘I’m so lucky to be alive and in a loving family!’
Teacher urges ability over test scores: ‘Dear Mom, today at school, I took a test. I do not know if I passed.’
“We give tests. I get it, I really do. They have their place. But when I look at Valeria’s drawing, I can’t stop thinking about how important it is to remember that our students are so much more than a numerical snapshot.”
