Upon entering a Fairfax County Public School, one is greeted by a rainbow of diversity. Families in the United States have developed throughout generations with adoption, interracial couples, religion and much more.
Although the diversity at AHS is usually only thought of as ethnic, adoption also provides for its unique population.
Freshman Faith Paletti was adopted from a small orphanage in Russia and came to the United States with her brother John 10 years ago.
“My dad died and my mother couldn’t take care of [my siblings and me] as a single parent,” Paletti said. “My half sister and my half brother are still in Russia, but my parents could only adopt me and my brother… they don’t know where my half brother and sister are.”
Although she spent four years in Russia, Paletti does not remember her childhood or how to speak her first language.
“The only thing I remember from Russia is [going] to a circus [that featured] elephants,” Paletti said. “And in Russian the only thing I can say is dog and bye.”
Paletti’s mother has brought up Paletti and her brother with them having full knowledge of their adoption.
“My mother brought up the topic sometimes [when I was little]. She also showed me pictures and I found these documents I wasn’t supposed to see,” Paletti said.
Her adoptive parents changed her name, along with her brother’s, to sound more American.
“My name in Russian was Faina [Fay-EE-na] and it sounded a bit like Faith so they changed it. My brother’s name was Igor, [and my parents thought people] would make fun of him, so they changed it to John,” Paletti said.
Although Paletti is not sure what her exact birth date is, she knew her approximate age and chose May 25 as her birthday.
Paletti is comfortable with the information she knows about her biological family and does not feel the need to seek more.
“I really don’t plan on finding anything out about my biological family, because I don’t really care,” Paletti said. “This is my home now.”
World History 2 teacher Joe Valentino is another example of a ‘modern family’. In 2001, Valentino adopted his second child from India when she was almost 11 months old. Although Valentino is the head of a Caucasian family, he says race does not play any role at home. “Anna has grown up with us knowing she was adopted, and both my wife’s and my family have been 100% supportive,” Valentino said. “She is just Anna and [her racial origin] is not even a factor. We have not had any real strange reaction ever–guess it is a function of living in the area we do.”
As for tracing back Anna’s roots, the Valentinos plan on making a trip in the future. “We do plan to make a home country visit at some point and go to the city of her orphanage as well as do some sightseeing,” Valentino said.
