In the past ten years, Santee Electric Cooperative has given local teachers more than $150,000 in Bright Ideas grant money! That total includes $13,465 local teachers received this week!
Area teachers who competed for up to $1,000 each were surprised when Santee Electric Cooperative employees showed up at their schools with flowers, goody bags and 'big checks.'
Winners of the 15 grants given out this year were Rebecca Cox from Williamsburg Academy; Kim Hamilton, Ardrina Wise, Samantha Tanner and Randall State from Kingstree Middle Magnet School of the Arts; Charlotte Driggers from Walker Gamble and East Clarendon; Michelle Weaver and Brenda Carmon from Walker Gamble Elementary; Angela McGuire and Teresa Cusaac from Olanta Elementary School; Lisa Holden-Smalls from Ronald E. McNair Junior High School; Emma Wiggins from J Paul Truluck Intermediate School; Jennifer Maples and Lisa Evans from Lake City High School; Kaitlyn Anderson from C.E. Murray Middle School; Sharon Blackwell, Teresa Childers, Jennifer Murray and Roy Rogers from Greeleyville Elementary School; Claire Grant from Andrews Elementary School; Maggie Hapeshis from Sampit Elementary; Keitt Easterling and Sissy Foxworth from Kensington Elementary School and Urica Brown from Georgetown High.
Bright, excited educators have come up with numerous ways to utilize these funds to teach their students. Grant titles range from The Wakey, Wakey Show to Inquiry Based leaners. Urica Brown at Georgetown High School's received her eighth grant this year for a project called Using physics to understand car crashes. Other teachers will integrate health like Angela McGuire at Olanta Elementary School who named her project 'We like to move it, move it! Move it!' Still other teachers like Rebecca cox at Williamsburg Academy are focused on spelling with her 'Stupendous! Spectacular! Spellers!' project.
Igniting Engineers was a grant Lisa Holden-Smalls received to promote learning about circuitry and motion by inventing and constructing gadgets. Kim Hamilton is having a Health fair and Charlotte Driggers will introduce students to famous artists and their artwork through a classroom library. Lights, Camera, Action is another grant that was awarded to Jennifer Maples and Lisa Evens which is a collaboration between English, Drama and art classes.
If you are a certified classroom educator in Williamsburg, Georgetown, Clarendon or Florence County teaching grades kindergarten through 12, consider applying for one of these grants next year. Teachers are asked to prove in an application that they have an innovative idea for a classroom project. Each school is eligible to submit more than one application, but individual teachers are limited to one application per school year. To apply, keep an eye on www.santee.org for the 2017 applications which will be made available in August.
