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The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

Junior Amelia Geistler poses with her aunt, uncle and cousin. Moving through childhood, Geistler learned that having parents with a different appearance from her meant facing awkward, upsetting situations. “Something I faced [after] being adopted was that I was [treated] better when people discovered I had white parents. A childhood memory [is] when I went over to a friend's house for the first time and her parents seemed to be very passive-aggressive, but when they learned I was adopted by white parents, they gave me equal treatment and ‘love’ as their white daughter,” Geistler said.

A home across the Pacific

Audrey Ghosh, Opinions Editor May 1, 2024

When she was nine months old, junior Amelia Geistler flew across the Pacific Ocean to her new home in St. Louis. Originally born in China, Geistler was abandoned close to a fire station in the rural Chinese...

Junior Lia Emry poses with her long-lost sister over fall break, brought together by the DNA testing kit 23andMe.

How DNA testing brought two sisters together

Lia Emry, Staff Writer October 31, 2022

At 9 months, I sat in my mom's arms and drank from a bottle. My grandparents and aunt traveled to China to help my mom. On Oct. 31, 2006, my mom adopted me in Chongqing. In November 2006, after three flights...

Tricia LaRocca Morris holds her newly adopted daughter, June Caroline. Morris, working as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurse, helped tend to sick newborn babies everyday while attempting to adopt. “We are just so grateful for our little girl, June Caroline, that it's hard to fathom that someone else is grateful for us. I think that's part of what makes a successful adoption so special. It is the answer to so many people's prayers,” Morris said.

Riding the adoption rollercoaster

Sarah Lashly, COPY COACH November 16, 2018

Working as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurse in Ann Arbor, MI after graduating in 2002, alumna Tricia LaRocca Morris achieved her goal of creating her own family by adopting her first baby June Caroline. “My...