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The Teacher

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Crysta Baier felt a sense of well-being as she stepped into the luxury limo with her family. Her 13-year-old daughter Ally looked particularly happy and her husband and 16-year-old son also seemed relaxed. Their dinner at an elegant restaurant and this limo tour of the Kansas City holiday lights was a wonderful gift from The

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A Bedroom for Hannah

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A thirteen-year-old wants a private place of her own The room is beach-themed with peach-colored walls and blue and tan throw pillows — “Life is better at the beach,” one says — and it’s waiting for her. For 13 years, Hannah Viens has shared a room with her three sisters in the finished basement of

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Dagen’s Trash Truck

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He dreamed of becoming a garbage man. Wearing a Kansas Jayhawk basketball jersey, 6-year-old Dagen Korynta showed his deadeye Thursday afternoon as he drained repeated shots through a goal suspended from a small backboard above the family home’s front door. He’s a big KU fan, his mother, Heather Korynta, said — a statement Dagen proved

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The Snowflake Princess

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Janna Lopez’s stomach clenched as she answered the phone. Children’s Mercy Hospital was calling and she prayed it wasn’t bad news.  “Your daughter Caroline has been chosen to receive a special Christmas gift,” the hospital social worker told Janna.  Janna dabbed at her eyes, grateful for any good luck. She peppered the women with questions.

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Hope for Anna

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It was an ordinary August afternoon for Anna Sarol.  Before starting her gymnastics warm-ups, 15-year-old Anna texted her mom, nurse practitioner Eloisa Sarol, to find out who was picking her up after practice. Anna had loved gymnastics since she was five and was a promising athlete, having won several Kansas state awards.  As she warmed up on

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