An annual event in Danville is fast approaching: the Danville Elementary PTO Winter Festival. This year's event will be held on Saturday, Feb. 21 from 1-5 p.m. at Danville South Elementary School.

This is an event that my kids and I make a point to attend every year, as my kids always thoroughly enjoy the games and the bounce houses, and I enjoy the opportunity to see friends and meet new people while also learning about businesses and organizations within the community.

Plus, it raises funds for a great organization that further benefits OUR KIDS.

I spoke to the Danville Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) last night about They're Our Kids and had a great time.  The parents, teachers and administrators in the audience appeared to enjoy the presentation, and they gave me some great feedback and suggestions for the website.

One of those fantastic suggestions was to add a page to They're Our Kids about service clubs in our community.  As an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Danville, I thought that was a terrific idea!  So I did some research and came up with as many service clubs around Hendricks County as I could think of, and I'm pleased to present to you the new Service Clubs page on They're Our Kids!

I still need your help, though.  It would not surprise me at all if I have missed more than one service club in our community, so if you know of a club that is missing from the page, please contact me so that I can add it.

I also realized through my substitute teaching and friendships with parents of special needs kids that They're Our Kids lacked a meaningful set of resources for Hendricks County parents with similar challenges.

I put out a call for help on the They're Our Kids Facebook page, and a special thanks goes out to Jacki Copeland and to Dave Giltner of Hendricks County Home magazine for all of the excellent special needs resources they shared with me.

As a result of their assistance, I'd like to unveil the new Special Needs page on They're Our Kids!

As with the Service Clubs page, I could still use your help finding more resources for parents of special needs kids.  It takes a village to raise a child, and the larger the village we have, the more resources we can pull together for the children of our community.  So please don't hesitate to contact me with the sites that you go to in order to find special needs information, so I can add them to They're Our Kids.

Danville parents, teachers and administrators gave me even more ideas for near-future additions to They're Our Kids: an Arts page (for youth activities involving art, music, theater, etc.) and a Health & Nutrition page.  I will be getting to work on those pages very soon, so start sending me your ideas for what links should be included on each of them!

They noted a local swim club and a middle school volleyball club that I hadn't included on the Sports page (they're there now!) and suggested some additional information to be included on the buttons relating to Danville schools (also there now).

I think I learned more from the Danville Elementary PTO than I showed them about They're Our Kids, so I came home with a huge smile on my face and a renewed energy to keep building this resource.  Thank you, Danville!

Now I'd like to come speak to other PTO's around the county so that I can get more great input and community-specific suggestions for They're Our Kids.  Are you involved in your community's PTO?  Contact me, and I'll be happy to come speak to your group!

I'm very excited to announce that I've been asked to give a presentation about They're Our Kids to the Danville Elementary Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) at their meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will take place at Danville South Elementary School.

I'll be speaking about my background and what led up to the creation of They're Our Kids, as well as what our website has to offer parents in Hendricks County, the Indianapolis metro area and beyond.

It's free for anyone to attend, so come on over to South Elementary and learn more about this resource. Bring the kids, too! It's a casual, comfortable family-friendly atmosphere. I'm about the least formal person you'll ever meet, and I love kids, so they won't bother me a bit.

This is a great meeting to attend because the PTO will be finalizing the plans for this year's Danville Winter Festival that takes place on Saturday, Feb. 22 from 2-7 p.m. at South Elementary. You can get the inside scoop on what's going take place at the festival. You'll be the envy of your neighborhood!

Also, keep your eyes peeled for the February issue of the new Hendricks County Home magazine. Sign up on their website to receive the magazine in your email in-box for free, and then look for an article about They're Our Kids!

See you at South Elementary on Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m.!