Every December, Pine View participates in the Safe Children Coalition’s Foster Angels program. Clubs or individuals interested in fulfilling a foster child’s gift list can contact Spanish teacher Judit Pauling for more information. All gifts are to be delivered to the blue building, Room 303, by Dec. 12.
by Isabella Kulawik — published in The Torch, December 2021
The Foster Angels program has touched the lives of children across the county, as well as students and teachers within the Pine View community. For more than five years, Spanish teacher Judit Pauling has run the program; because of her efforts, Pine View has become the top donor in DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties. Donating has become a pivotal part of her class each December.
“It’s important not only to educate students but also to teach compassion … how to be giving and how to be thankful about your own stuff and your blessings,” Pauling said. “I think all these are important things that they should have in the classroom, not just strict grammar or vocabulary — you cannot really understand until you’re part of it,”
Now, teachers across Pine View sponsor Foster Angels during the holiday season. Students donate in their classes and then come together to buy gifts for each child.
While teachers have helped to make the program what it is today, students have played a pivotal role. Eleventh-grader Felicity Chang has volunteered since middle school. She continues to support any way she can, from walking to Walmart with her grandfather to help shop before she could drive to scouring websites for a specific brand of sensory toy on a toddler’s gift list.
“I remember I went home and I had an envelope with all my babysitting money. I checked the envelope and I went in and I said, ‘Mrs. Pauling, I have my babysitting money that I made for these past two weeks, I want you to take it and I want you to do it for Foster Angels,’ and that was the first donation we had that year,” Chang said.
AP Biology and Biotechnology teacher Angela Keiper-Wilson is an avid Foster Angels supporter. Her dedication to the program began one night after Pinnacle. After getting home, she and her husband sat on their couch at 11:30pm and decided they were going to become foster parents.
Keiper-Wilson and her husband began their fostering journey after six years of being unable to conceive. Speaking with third-grade teacher Susie Shea at Pinnacle impacted their decision the most. This meeting happened by chance; in fact, Keiper-Wilson was not planning on attending until she was invited by Principal Dr. Stephen Covert.
“[Shea] said, ‘You’re two people who have a home that you want to fill with love’,'” Keiper-Wilson recalled. “We built [our house] with the intention of having kids. I have a niece and two nephews, and when they’re over, it would be loud and you could hear all these beautiful sounds … For six years, it was just my husband and I and our cat. It was quiet and it just stopped feeling like a happy home … It just sounded like disappointment to go into this quiet home. So I said that to her … It’s the only conversation I’ve ever had with her.”
Later that night, they signed up for fostering classes. Once they finished the classes, they met their three-month-old foster daughter, Arianna, within a week’s time.
“It was nice with Arianna; she gave us a purpose. You think your whole life, ‘I’m going to be a mom and I’m going to be a great mom,’ and then they’re like, ‘You’re probably not going to be a mom,’” Keiper-Wilson said.
Keiper-Wilson and her husband began their fostering journey after six years of being unable to conceive. Speaking with third-grade teacher Susie Shea at pinnacle led to the decision. This meeting happened by chance; in fact, Keiper-Wilson wasn’t planning to attend until being invited by Principal Dr. Stephen Covert.
“[Shea] said, ‘You’re two people who have a home that you want to fill with love”,” Keiper-Wilson said. “We built [our house] with the intention of having kids. I have a niece and two nephews, and when they’re over, it would be load and you could hear all these beautiful sounds … For six years, it was just my husband and I and our cat. It was quiet and it just stopped feeling like a happy home … It just sounded like disappointment to go into this quiet home. So I said that to her … It’s the only conversation I’ve ever had with her.”
That night, they signed up for fostering classes. Once they finished, they met their three-month-old foster daughter, Arianna, within a week.
“It was nice with Arianna; she gave us a purpose. You think your whole life, ‘I’m going to be a mom, I’m going to be a great mom,’ and then they’re like, ‘You-re probably not going to be a mom,'” keiper-Wilson and her husband took care of Arianna until she was one year old; she was then reunited with her parents and paternal grandmother.”
“You don’t get a lot of closure. This is a person you teach to eat, and to sit, and to walk, and if I saw her on the street, we wouldn’t know each other. So it’s sad because you lose a little bit of yourself, but I wouldn’t change it for the world — I loved it,” Keiper-Wilson said.
The day before Arianna left, Keiper-Wilson found out that she was pregnant with her now three-year-old son, Tyler. Keiper-Wilson and her husband aren’t currently fostering but are considering doing it again when their son is older.
One year by mere coincidence, Spanish teacher Patti Gerlek’s class sponsored Arianna and purchased gifts for her. Keiper-Wilson has sponsored children every year with the help of her students.
“It’s really beautiful, how the students come together. It wasn’t just for my Arianna — it was for all the kids that we did as well. So I love that program. I think it’s beautiful,” Keiper-Wilson said.
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