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EMC backs creative classroom projects
EDU electric grants 3802
Bright Ideas grant winner Kimberly Boucher, a teacher at Liberty Elementary School, Coastal CEO Whit Hollowell, Principal Chris Anderson and Liberty students hold up the $1,800 check the school received for Boucher’s idea. - photo by Photo provided.
The Coastal Electric Cooperative and its foundation awarded eight Bright Ideas grants, totaling $10,472, to Liberty County teachers on Oct. 28. The winners were surprised in their classrooms by the Bright Ideas Prize Patrol, which came with balloons, a check and gifts.
The local winners are:
• Victoria Funston of Joseph Martin Elementary School for her project, “Publish it on the World Wide Web.”
• Tiffany Leon of Button Gwinnett Elementary School for her project, “Lights! Action! Camera!”
• Jeremy Meadows of Lewis Frazier Elementary School for his project, “Pod/Vod the GPS.”
• Sharon Dunham of Lewis Frazier Middle School for her project, “FUNdamental.”
• Maureen Jenkinson of Taylors Creek Elementary School for her project, “Students Going Green Outdoors.”
• Kimberly Boucher of Liberty Elementary School for her project, “iPods for Learning.”
• Cristina Dover of Midway Middle School for her project, “Kings and Queens of the Green Screen.”
• Melinda Joy Kennedy of Midway Middle School for her project, “Celebrating Pi.”
Earlier this year, the teachers were invited to apply online through the Coastal Electric Cooperative Web site to compete to win grants of up to $2,000 each. The Bright Ideas program encourages teachers to develop creative, innovative programs that might not otherwise be funded through the school system. A panel of independent judges review and score the applications.
The cooperative awarded 13 Bright Ideas grants this year. Since the program’s inception in 2002, more than $110,000 has been awarded. The grants give teachers the power to put their creative teaching ideas into action. Applications are accepted from teachers instructing students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Bright Ideas is made possible in part through the donations of the cooperative’s members who participate in Operation Round Up, which allows members to have their electric bills rounded up to the nearest whole dollar.
Those nickels and dimes each month are turned over to the Coastal Electric Cooperative Foundation, which oversees the fund. The foundation uses the money to assist with food, health care, shelter, safety and education needs in the community. The cooperative is a customer-owned power supplier serving 16,000 members in Bryan, Liberty, Long and McIntosh counties. It is headquartered in Midway.
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