Last week, Liberty County teachers received quite a surprise as they were greeted with cheers, balloons and over $12,000 to fund some very special classroom projects. In total, the Coastal Electric Foundation awarded $40,000 in Bright Ideas grants this month to empower teachers in Bryan, McIntosh and Liberty counties to bring their Bright Ideas to reality.

Funding for Bright Ideas grants comes from Coastal Electric Cooperative members who allow their electric bills to be rounded up to the next dollar through Operation Round Up. Those nickels and dimes are pooled together and invested back into the community through the Coastal Electric Cooperative Foundation.

Since the Bright Ideas program’s inception in 2002, close to $450,000 has been awarded to give local teachers the power to put their creative teaching ideas into action.

“These children are our future and most valuable resource,” said Coastal Electric Cooperative CEO Chris Fettes, who presented donations on behalf of the Foundation. “We are here to support the dedicated people who work hard every day to provide a quality education and enhance our students’ quality of life.”

Summaries of grants awarded in Liberty County

Thanks to Jessica Cook’s $1,960 Bright Ideas grant project, “Little Geologists in the Making,” Liberty Elementary School students will gain hands-on experience learning about geology. They’ll start by using special rock tumblers and microscopes to study traits of rocks they find in their own environments. Later in the curriculum, they’ll discover paleontology with fossil dig sets.

Cynthia Werdlow’s $1,999.55 Bright Ideas grant project, “STEAM’n Toward a New Community,” will allow Midway Middle School students to work collaboratively to build an off-grid community. Students will build an aquaponics system using only certain materials available and imagination. The system’s design must ensure a pump will fill pipes with water but also maintain proper movement of water through the pipes assisted by earth’s gravity. The system must have the ability to naturally filter water using plants, therefore creating a clean environment for fish to grow and thrive.

Joseph Martin Elementary’s Sarah Trawick won a $1,985.83 grant for her project idea, “5th Grade’s ExCELLent Museum.” Students will explore the school campus and collect plant, insect and animal samples that they will use to create microscope slides. Students will then work in small groups and use the microscopes to study cells of their samples. The project will culminate with students researching an organism for which they have a cell sample and creating a corresponding art project of the cell they observed for a museum walkthrough event.

At Bradwell Institute, Ashley Johnston won a $913.70 Bright Ideas grant for her students to build a working “Large-Scale Roman Aqueduct.” Students will measure and construct the aqueduct, which will use gravity to allow water to flow into three cisterns, which would in turn feed three areas of ancient Rome: fountains, public baths and plumbing for wealthy homeowners. The final product will measure approximately 30 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 3.5 feet tall.

Shaye Howell’s $1,952 “STEAM-Powered Student Center” grant will purchase eight Spearo Bolt programmable robots with accessories and maps. Teachers and students can check out kits, which will include a STEAM activity such as programming the Spearo to do a variety of tasks aligned to standards in one or more subjects, integrating them into lessons and providing enrichment activities.

Tiffany Leon-Peterson won a $1,894.83 Bright Ideas grant to fund her project, “BOOST My Mindstorm.” The project will allow Taylors Creek Elementary students learning English as their second language to develop in the content area of computer science through robotics, coding and problem solving. Students also will enhance their English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.

Lewis Frasier Middle School’s Jeremy Meadows won a $1,823.88 Bright Ideas grant for his project, “Meta Today, the Future… NOW!!!” The grant will purchase virtual reality equipment, opening doors to learning possibilities beyond classroom walls. For example, students can use apps to explore the inner workings of the human body, geothermal vents and ocean depths, other cultures for social studies, and engineering applications.