MIDWAY – Coastal Electric Cooperative and its foundation awarded three Bright Ideas grants totaling $4,275 to Bryan County Schools on Friday, Oct. 26. The winners were greeted in their classrooms with a visit from the Bright Ideas Prize Team, who came with balloons, a presentation check and gifts.
The local winners are:
- Donna Hagan, Richmond Hill Elementary School, WIN News Show, $1,480. Hagan intends to buy a new video camera, backdrops and other supplies for a student produced news show.
- Pamela Walker and Jennifer Lynch, Dr. George Washington Carver Elementary School, Four-Color Pen, $1,935. Walker and Lynch intend to buy tape recorders, cassette tapes, pens and other supplies so that students can practice their reading skills. The strategy teaches students to record, listen, review and interact with text and it improves their fluency and reading comprehension.
- Mary Matthew, Dr. George Washington Carver Elementary School, Stock Market Game, $860. Matthew wants to use her grant to pay their fees required for students to participate in a national stock market game, a virtual trading experience. The money will also pay for savings bonds for the school winners.Together, the Foundation and the Cooperative, awarded 13 Bright Ideas Grants totaling $20,000 to teachers in Bryan, Liberty, and McIntosh counties on Thursday, Oct. 25 and Friday, Oct. 26. The grants give teachers the power to put their creative teaching ideas into action. The grants are open to teachers instructing students in grades K-12.
Coastal Electric received 39 grant applications totaling more than $61,000 in September. A panel of judges reviewed the applications and the top scoring applications were funded. The next round of Bright Ideas application will be accepted beginning May 2008.
Bright Ideas is made possible because of the cooperative’s members who donate through Operation Round Up. Members round up their electric bill to the nearest whole dollar. The difference, small change, is given to Operation Round Up.