Fifteen area teachers were recently surprised when Santee
Electric Cooperative employees showed up at their schools with up to $1,000
each in grant money. The money came from a cooperative grant program called
'Bright Ideas,' which allows teachers to compete for funding outside of often
limited school district resources.

Santee Electric Cooperative employees, armed with balloons,
flowers, goody bags and 'big checks,' visited D.P. Cooper Elementary,
Williamsburg Academy, Williamsburg Magnet, Kensington Elementary, Manning
Elementary, McDonald Elementary, East Clarendon Middle, C.E. Murray High,
Andrews Elementary and Kenneth Gardner Elementary schools in the 'Prize Patrol'
van to surprise the 2012 Bright Ideas winners. Many surprised teachers and students
were thrilled when the doors of their classroom opened and a co-op
representative announced they were winners!

Bright, excited educators have come up with numerous ways to
utilize these funds to teach their students. Edna Sessoms and Pamela Williamson
at D.P. Cooper Elementary School will use their grants for E-learning and Lego
inspired learning projects. Katie Floyd, Sarah Thompson and Missie McCutchen at
Williamsburg Academy will use their grants for interactive English, music and
to purchase i-pods. Woodrena Segres at Williamsburg Magnet School will use her
grant to enrich speech and language. Jenny Cox, Lacie Hallman and Keitte
Easterling at Kensington Elementary School will use their grants for Geocache
and to purchase e-books. Shanna Morgan at Manning Elementary School will
purchase kindles for her students. Grace George at McDonald Elementary School
plans to use her grant to teach tennis for fitness. Sheri Sims at East
Clarendon Middle School plans to purchase animals for students to observe life
cycles. Francesca Womack at C.E. Murray High School will use her grant to
restore a greenhouse where students can grow and sell plants from seeds. Sharon
Thornell at Anderson Elementary School will use her grant to concentrate on
reading. Jacqueline Simmons at Kenneth Gardner Elementary School will use her
grant to teach science.

'The idea behind Bright Ideas,' according to SEC's President
and CEO Floyd Keels, 'is to empower good teachers and to provide support outside
of normal school funding for deserving classroom projects that need extra
assistance.'

In all, $13,857.99 was awarded to schools in Williamsburg,
Georgetown, Clarendon and Florence counties. All classroom educators were
eligible to apply if they taught in grades kindergarten through twelve in the
co-op's 4-county service area. Teachers were awarded grant money if they could
prove in an application that they had an innovative idea for a classroom
project. Each school was eligible to submit more than one application, but
individual teachers were limited to one application per school year.

Visit Santee Electric Cooperative's facebook page for
pictures of teachers in your area receiving their grants or email Adrel Langley
at alangley@santee.org for a high
quality printable image.