Talented 11-year-old needs a family to nurture him
Keannen's got some moves. He's in sixth grade and loves to dance. Hip-hop is his favorite, but when it comes to dancing, he'll try anything.
This 11-year-old recently made the dance team. He has practice twice a week and the team performs at the school's basketball and football games.
Keannen likes music and says he wants to be a drummer or a singer when he grows up. He also likes art.
"You get to be creative with your hands and you get to think
what you want to do," he said.
CASA volunteer Diane Wells said Keannen is a lot of fun to be around.
"He really tries to enjoy life, I think. He wants to be involved in
anything and everything. Just tries hard at what he does," she said.
The arts aren't his only interests. He likes video games, sports, and of course, girls.
"Most of the time I just daydream about girls," Keannen said.
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At 11, Keannen is a typical pre-teen boy in so many ways. But unlike most of his peers, Keannen has been in foster care for the past three years. He said he doesn't tell many people at school that.
"Because they'll just carry tales and go, 'Ooh, you just get in
trouble,' and all. They're like, 'Ha ha, you're in foster care.' So
I don't really talk about it," he said.
Keannen has dealt with disappointment in seeing his siblings get adopted while he has stayed behind. Still, he's cautiously optimistic.
"I'm a little nervous because it's been a long time since I've
been in a real home, like a real family," he said.
While he seems to be making the most of his adolescence, a family would give Keannen support that would validate who he is for the rest of his life.
"He longs to have a family of his own. He longs to have a mother
and father. He longs to feel loved and wanted," Wells said.