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Clouse wins $500 for South Hancock PTO
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By Jennifer Wimmer
South Hancock Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization Secretary Lindsey Clouse recently won a $500 cash prize in a contest and donated it to the South Hancock PTO. The contest was hosted by Nashville-based touring comedian John Crist through his podcast “Net Positive.”
Last summer, Crist announced the contest on social media and shared that three people involved in education would be the winning recipients of a cash award. The prompt asked participants to write an email outlining how they intended to use the money if they were selected.
“As a PTO mom who loves her kid’s school and knows how much these students deserve, I decided to ‘shoot my shot’ and enter the contest,” Clouse said. “I submitted an email making a heartfelt pitch for $400 to help cover the cost of school T-shirts for our students and to help lower the out-of-pocket costs for an upcoming field trip. He ended up being incredibly generous and awarded us even more than we initially asked for.”
She and her husband, Logan, are avid listeners of the podcast, which Crist co-hosts with Alex Lagos and Easton Smith. The couple tunes in every Wednesday when a new episode is released.
The podcast creates space for unfiltered, funny conversations about the parts of life that don’t always go smoothly. The goal is not to gloss over difficult subjects, but to walk through them with enough comic relief and honesty that they feel more manageable.
“There weren’t any rigid rules or complex goals for the contest; it was simply a genuine gesture from someone looking to give back in a world where so many people are struggling,” she said.
Clouse is a school-based speech-language pathologist who has worked for Daviess County Public Schools since 2018. She attended Hancock County schools growing up and was a South Hancock Elementary student.
“When my husband, who attended Trinity, and I discussed where we wanted to raise our family, we both knew we wanted our children to have the same close-knit, small-school experience we loved,” she said. “We moved back to Hancock County, and our daughter, Lainey, will be a second grader at South Hancock Elementary this upcoming school year. It has been incredibly rewarding to watch our children grow up in this community.”
She recalled being pleasantly surprised and excited upon discovering that she was one of the winners of the contest. She received the news, she said, while she was attending an opening-day ceremony for her work.
“I immediately squealed and texted the other PTO officers, Savannah Pryor, Robyn Ellan and Nikki Johnson,” Clouse said. “All of those ladies work so hard for our school, especially in our current world when finding resources is a bit of a treasure hunt. I also called my husband, who was as shocked and thrilled as I was.”
Receiving the $500 donation, she said, means a great deal to them, the students, their families and staff at South Hancock.
“Kids need to know how much their community, and the world outside, wants to invest in them and support them,” she said. “We want our students to feel an overwhelming sense of pride in being a South Hancock Hornet. Receiving this actually inspired a bigger dream for us. We love the idea of finding individuals or corporations to sponsor specific classrooms from kindergarten all the way through their fifth-grade graduation. A sponsorship like that could ensure every student gets a school shirt every year and has financial support for field trips throughout their elementary career.”
The donation will be used to purchase school shirts for every student at South Hancock Elementary. The dollars also helped fund their school field trip to the zoo, making sure that no child was left out because of the admission cost.
“Everyone has been absolutely thrilled,” Clouse said. “The fact that a national celebrity paid attention to a small, close-knit community like ours is still incredibly shocking and exciting for everyone involved.”
When asked if she has participated in similar contests or initiatives prior to this, Clouse said she has never really taken part in anything like it and isn’t known for being particularly lucky. She said there was an “overwhelming voice” telling her to take the leap with this one, and it paid off.
“We have so many amazing groups in our county, constantly working hard and fundraising for our kids,” she said. “My hope is that we can all share the load. If everyone does just a little bit of what they can, we can support each other, prevent volunteer burnout and keep these programs strong for the long haul. It truly takes a village, and our village is always looking for more people to join us. Whether you have an hour to spare, want to attend a meeting or can help out at an upcoming school event, we would love to welcome new faces to the South Hancock PTO. Every bit of time and effort makes a massive difference for our Hornets.”
Clouse is the daughter of Cindy Thorp, who has worked for South Hancock Elementary School for close to 20 years and was a PTO mom herself in the 1990s. Her grandfather, Homer Edge, worked 33 years for Hancock County Schools and retired from the district in 2015.
Lindsey and Logan Clouse live in the Pellville area. They are blessed with two children, Lainey and Lawson.
South Hancock Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization Secretary Lindsey Clouse recently won a $500 cash prize in a contest and donated it to the South Hancock PTO. The contest was hosted by Nashville-based touring comedian John Crist through his podcast “Net Positive.”
Last summer, Crist announced the contest on social media and shared that three people involved in education would be the winning recipients of a cash award. The prompt asked participants to write an email outlining how they intended to use the money if they were selected.
“As a PTO mom who loves her kid’s school and knows how much these students deserve, I decided to ‘shoot my shot’ and enter the contest,” Clouse said. “I submitted an email making a heartfelt pitch for $400 to help cover the cost of school T-shirts for our students and to help lower the out-of-pocket costs for an upcoming field trip. He ended up being incredibly generous and awarded us even more than we initially asked for.”
She and her husband, Logan, are avid listeners of the podcast, which Crist co-hosts with Alex Lagos and Easton Smith. The couple tunes in every Wednesday when a new episode is released.
The podcast creates space for unfiltered, funny conversations about the parts of life that don’t always go smoothly. The goal is not to gloss over difficult subjects, but to walk through them with enough comic relief and honesty that they feel more manageable.
“There weren’t any rigid rules or complex goals for the contest; it was simply a genuine gesture from someone looking to give back in a world where so many people are struggling,” she said.
Clouse is a school-based speech-language pathologist who has worked for Daviess County Public Schools since 2018. She attended Hancock County schools growing up and was a South Hancock Elementary student.
“When my husband, who attended Trinity, and I discussed where we wanted to raise our family, we both knew we wanted our children to have the same close-knit, small-school experience we loved,” she said. “We moved back to Hancock County, and our daughter, Lainey, will be a second grader at South Hancock Elementary this upcoming school year. It has been incredibly rewarding to watch our children grow up in this community.”
She recalled being pleasantly surprised and excited upon discovering that she was one of the winners of the contest. She received the news, she said, while she was attending an opening-day ceremony for her work.
“I immediately squealed and texted the other PTO officers, Savannah Pryor, Robyn Ellan and Nikki Johnson,” Clouse said. “All of those ladies work so hard for our school, especially in our current world when finding resources is a bit of a treasure hunt. I also called my husband, who was as shocked and thrilled as I was.”
Receiving the $500 donation, she said, means a great deal to them, the students, their families and staff at South Hancock.
“Kids need to know how much their community, and the world outside, wants to invest in them and support them,” she said. “We want our students to feel an overwhelming sense of pride in being a South Hancock Hornet. Receiving this actually inspired a bigger dream for us. We love the idea of finding individuals or corporations to sponsor specific classrooms from kindergarten all the way through their fifth-grade graduation. A sponsorship like that could ensure every student gets a school shirt every year and has financial support for field trips throughout their elementary career.”
The donation will be used to purchase school shirts for every student at South Hancock Elementary. The dollars also helped fund their school field trip to the zoo, making sure that no child was left out because of the admission cost.
“Everyone has been absolutely thrilled,” Clouse said. “The fact that a national celebrity paid attention to a small, close-knit community like ours is still incredibly shocking and exciting for everyone involved.”
When asked if she has participated in similar contests or initiatives prior to this, Clouse said she has never really taken part in anything like it and isn’t known for being particularly lucky. She said there was an “overwhelming voice” telling her to take the leap with this one, and it paid off.
“We have so many amazing groups in our county, constantly working hard and fundraising for our kids,” she said. “My hope is that we can all share the load. If everyone does just a little bit of what they can, we can support each other, prevent volunteer burnout and keep these programs strong for the long haul. It truly takes a village, and our village is always looking for more people to join us. Whether you have an hour to spare, want to attend a meeting or can help out at an upcoming school event, we would love to welcome new faces to the South Hancock PTO. Every bit of time and effort makes a massive difference for our Hornets.”
Clouse is the daughter of Cindy Thorp, who has worked for South Hancock Elementary School for close to 20 years and was a PTO mom herself in the 1990s. Her grandfather, Homer Edge, worked 33 years for Hancock County Schools and retired from the district in 2015.
Lindsey and Logan Clouse live in the Pellville area. They are blessed with two children, Lainey and Lawson.
Posted in Local News 2
