Greetings,

I hope all of you were able to join us in Decatur, IL at Millikin University last Saturday for our 3rd Spotlight event. For those who couldn’t we had over 350 families registered for the amazing celebration of the arts. Not only is it a chance to celebrate all of the creativity expressed by our children across the state, but also it provides an opportunity to learn different art techniques led by the Milliken University students. Families were able to share the learning experience, get ideas for home projects, and see their children celebrated. Hope to see you at next year’s celebration with the theme of “what’s your story”

I also wanted to let you know that I presented on behalf of Illinois PTA in Anchorage, Alaska last Friday. Definitely would have earned frequent flier miles. The presentation was on “Engaging Hispanic Families.” We really had a great discussion on diversity in general and cultural competency. It was an honor to meet some of the members from Alaska and discuss their challenges and successes.

As we gather the resources for your next upcoming LUP (Local Unit Packet), please send any suggestions you think would be helpful to info@illinoispta.org. I want to make sure every unit gets off to a great start and with SO many resources available for every level of expertise the feedback would be helpful.

Finally I want to note that we will be presenting and exhibiting at the ISBE Statewide Bilingual Conference on May 7th. Armen Alvarez from NPTA will present in Spanish and I will do the English session on building upon leadership skills, titled BPAC to PTA Team Leadership Transition.

Please sign up here for next steps.