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.