News

LOCAL TEACHERS RECEIVE GRANTS FOR THEIR BRIGHT IDEAS

November 17th, 2016

Four County EMC is honoring teachers and celebrating innovation in education this month by awarding $19,860 in Bright Ideas grants to 19 educators in Bladen, Duplin, Pender and Sampson counties. More than 3,500 students will participate in Bright Ideas projects funded by Four County EMC this year.

“The Bright Ideas grant winners are making a real difference for students,” said Gay Johnson, Director of Corporate Communications of Four County EMC.  “Their creative projects will no doubt help students reach their full potential and spark higher interest in learning for years to come.”

Winning grants include a variety of interesting projects this year, such as grant entitled, Ozobots to the Rescue. The goal is for the students to gain the opportunity to learn about coding, mapping skills and other advanced computer programming skills. This is only one example of the innovative, hands-on, classroom projects provided each year that would not otherwise be funded if it were not for the Bright Ideas education grant program.

Since the program began in 1994, Four County EMC has contributed more than $397,500 to local teachers. North Carolina’s electric cooperatives collectively have awarded more than $10 million to teachers across the state for 9,800 projects in all subjects, benefiting more than 2 million North Carolina students.

 “Four County is committed to bettering the communities we serve, and we believe there is no better way than through the education of our youth,” Johnson said.

A list of the teachers and projects is included in the chart below. 

Bright Ideas grant applications are collected each year through mid-September, and winning proposals are selected in a competitive evaluation process by a panel of judges. The application process will reopen for interested teachers in April 2017.

To find out more information about the Bright Ideas grant program, visit http://www.fourcty.org/ or the Bright Ideas website at http://www.ncbrightideas.com/. Like Four County’s Facebook page “Four County Electric Membership Corporation” to receive local updates or become a fan of “Bright Ideas Education” on Facebook to receive regularly updated news about the program. 

Four County EMC serves over 32,500 members in Bladen, Duplin, Pender, Sampson, Columbus and Onslow counties.

 

2016 Bright Ideas Grant Winners                                                           

The winning teachers are listed by respective county, along with the amount of funds they received (listed in order of teacher who submitted grant, school, project name and amount awarded):

2016 BLADEN COUNTY BRIGHT IDEAS EDUCATION GRANT WINNERS

Bright Ideas Grant Winner	School	Grant Name	County	Amount Awarded
Barbara Wilkins	Tar Heel Middle	Storybook for Friends	Bladen	$1,943
Whitney Hern	Elizabethtown Primary	The Art of Engineering	Bladen	$1,400

 

2016 DUPLIN COUNTY BRIGHT IDEAS EDUCATION GRANT WINNERS

Bright Ideas Grant Winner	School	Grant Name	County	Amount Awarded
Kimberly Brown	Wallace Elementary	MakerSpaces to Make Learning Fun	Duplin	$1,100
Christi Macleod	Chinquapin Elementary	Manipulate Me!	Duplin	$1,089
Britani Becher	Chinquapin Elementary	I Have to Read in Math?	Duplin	$1,000

 

2016 PENDER COUNTY BRIGHT IDEAS EDUCATION GRANT WINNERS

Bright Ideas Grant Winner	School	Grant Name	County	Amount Awarded
Chelsea Ash, Team Members: Mark Lewis and Daryl Martin	Heide Trask High	Simple Science	Pender	$307
Richard Kukor	Pender Early College High	Seawolves Take Flight!	Pender	$1,290
Jared Pinkston, Team Member: Thomas Herren	Pender High	Motor to Inspire and Engage, PHS EV Team	Pender	$1,233
Douglas Lloyd, Team Members: Michelle Hafey, Elaine Linke and Elizabeth Roberson	Penderlea	3-D S.T.E.A.M. at Penderlea	Pender	$1,500
Jessica Croson,Team Member: Jessica Ball & Jacqueline Parker	Heide Trask  High	Microscopy Mania	Pender	$318
Melissa Jackson	Burgaw Elementary	Ecotower	Pender	$463
Matt Davis	Pender High	AP Calculus in Motion	Pender	$150

 

 2016 SAMPSON COUNTY BRIGHT IDEAS EDUCATION GRANT WINNERS

Bright Ideas Grant Winner	School	Grant Name	County	Amount Awarded
Don Chabot	Union High	Truly Tabled Without Shop Tables	Sampson	$1,842
Alyssa Neimeyer	Union High	Synergizing Science	Sampson	$1,850
Kimberly Bowles	Harrells Christian Academy	Ozobots to the Rescue	Sampson	$714
Mary Malpass	Union Elementary	Parents and Art: Pieces of the School Puzzle	Sampson	$764
Amy Leatherwood	Union Intermediate	Virtually Unstoppable	Sampson	$1,598
Catherine Bell	Union Elementary	Stability Ball	Sampson	$770
Jason Rinka	Union High	Going Digital with E-Portfolios	Sampson	$529