Goal reached, promise kept

Maryka Foster has never liked wearing her hearing aids.

"I didn't like the way they felt," the Seymour-Redding Elementary School student said.

But with a little encouragement and incentive from her fourth-grade teacher, Angie Rennekamp, Foster is finding new reasons to keep her hearing aids firmly planted in each ear.

"She struggled to wear them during instructional time, and I would have to remind her about it," Rennekamp said. "We would do signals, because I didn't want to single her out by saying something in front of the class."

Rennekamp decided that what Foster needed was a goal.

"We came up with a little reward program," Rennekamp said.

Every day Foster wore her hearing aids during class without Rennekamp having to tell her to put them in, she received a gold star sticker. After collecting enough stickers, Rennekamp said she would treat Foster to a big surprise.

The idea worked, Rennekamp said, and soon Foster was wearing the hearing aids both in and out of the classroom.

"It's a big responsibility," Rennekamp said. "She was even wearing them on days when I wasn't there."

Keeping her word, Rennekamp came up with a special treat for Foster.

For one whole day during spring break, Foster got to work alongside local veterinarian Paul Rennekamp at St. Francis Pet Hospital in Seymour.

Angie Rennekamp, who is married to Paul, arranged the special day and even treated Foster to lunch at Max & Erma's.

"I thought she deserved something fun for reaching our goal, and I knew she loved animals," Angie said.

Foster loves animals so much she says she wants to be a veterinarian technician when she grows up.

Her hours spent at St. Francis didn't change her mind. In fact, she is only more determined to be involved in the veterinary science field.

"It was a lot of fun," she said of working with Dr. Rennekamp. "I got to see a lot and learned a lot."

Wearing a surgical mask and a cap, Foster even got to watch Paul spay a pet.

"I liked watching him do the stitches," she said. "It didn't gross me out or anything."

On a house call, Foster learned that animals can get the same illnesses as humans.

"We had to check the blood sugar on a diabetic cat," she said. "It was neat to see that, but I felt bad for the cat." She also learned how X-rays work and what kind of medications animals receive.

Foster has a big heart when it comes to taking care of animals.

"We rescue dogs and find homes for them," she said of her family. "I've always been interested in animals."

Which is a good thing, considering she has two rabbits, seven dogs and seven cats at home.

Paul Rennekamp said he enjoyed spending the day with Foster and that she's well on her way to a career in veterinary science.

"She had very good, intelligent questions, and she didn't back away from anything," he said. "She was very brave."

Foster said she was in first grade when she found out she had a hearing impairment.

Just this year, she received new, more comfortable hearing aids free, courtesy of the Hearing Loss Education Access Resource Club at Seymour High School, A Hearing Service in Seymour and the Starkey Foundation, which raises money to fit people with hearing aids worldwide.

"They're better and smaller," Foster said of the new hearing aids.

"Now she doesn't have a good excuse not to wear them," Rennekamp said, smiling at her.