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Teacher originally from WNY adopts a student in Arizona

A Western New York native is smiling from ear-to-ear because she is a mom.   Jodi Kacz is a teacher in Phoenix, Arizona. When she and her husband were unable to get pregnant, she wanted to adopt. On November 19, 2016, National Adoption Day, she adopted a former student.

BUFFALO, N.Y. - A Western New York native is smiling from ear-to-ear because she is a mom. Jodi Kacz is a teacher in Phoenix, Arizona. When she and her husband were unable to get pregnant, she wanted to adopt. On November 19, 2016, National Adoption Day, she adopted a former student.

"I always hoped and knew that one day that God would bring me a child and I used to always say maybe it'd be a child from a classroom that I teach," said Kacz.

There was something special about a boy named Orlando in her fourth grade reading intervention class a couple of years ago. "His little friend, his best friend, felt the connection that Orlando and I had and he actually asked me to adopt his best friend. My son, was at lunch with him and he said, would you be my mom."

Orlando was born in Tucson, Arizona, but spent several years living in an orphanage in Mexico. He was eventually brought back to Arizona to live with a foster family in Phoenix..

Kacz attended Heim Elementary School in Williamsville as a child. Her sister is currently a teacher at the school. Her father, Thomas Chiavetta, still lives in the area and can't wait to meet his new grandson. "I'm going to put him in that big limo and take him to Niagara Falls."

When Orlando arrives in Buffalo, he will visit his mom's favorite places including Ted's Hot Dogs and the Boulevard Mall.

Orlando is now 11-years-old. His father is a high school teacher.

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