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Alleghany Teachers Win Bright Ideas Grants from Blue Ridge Energy
Exciting, hands-on learning projects are coming to local classrooms thanks to $6,539 in Bright Ideas grants awarded recently by Blue Ridge Energy to local educators during a special virtual celebration honoring winning teachers and their schools. Bright Ideas is an academic grants program sponsored annually by Blue Ridge Energy. Bright Ideas grants help further traditional academic learning by funding innovative scholastic projects that go beyond available school funding.
For its 26th year of grant making, Blue Ridge Energy is awarding $25,139 to 28 classrooms from its service area of Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes and Avery counties. To date, Blue Ridge Energy has awarded more than $544,000 in Bright Ideas classroom grants that has impacted over 100,000 local students and teachers.
Alleghany County grant winning teachers are:
Sherry Maines, Glade Creek Elementary, for “Inspiring ‘Golden’ Writers.” This $1,200 grant will be used to purchase a set of books designed to give students the tools and enthusiasm needed to write successfully.
India Sturgill Souther, Piney Creek Elementary, for “Character Through the Global Competencies.” The grant for $532 will purchase a social, emotional learning curriculum. The goal is to encourage students to expand character traits such as empathy and respect for differences and to open students’ horizons to a global view of each character trait.
Maggie Murphy, Piney Creek Elementary, for “Kindness is Global Year 3.” This $837 grant helps prepare students to diversity outside of ‘their’ world by bringing the world to them through global books and artifacts.
Donna Link-Williams, Alleghany High School, for “Drawing on Experience.” The grant for $1,000 will purchase electronic drawing pads to be used in classroom and in the homes of students who are doing remote learning. They will be used in social studies and art and will be a bonus to student’s education and a new, fulfilling way to convey content and skills.
Cecilia Hampton, Sparta Elementary, for “Secrets of Vesuvius Explode into History.” This $1,470 grant will allow students to explore the world of Pompeii through reading, math, science, and social studies.
Susanne Murphy, Piney Creek Elementary, for “No Worksheets Here!” This $1,000 grant will fund a project which will provide resources needed for PreK teachers to better support their students’ early writing skills.
Dana Russell, Alleghany High School, for “Keeping Our Students Safe—CAREERSAFE® OSHA 10-Hour (Health Care) Certification.” This $500 grant offers health science students in grades 10-12 the opportunity to acquire their OSHA 10-Hour General Industry certification which teaches students about the most common hazards in the healthcare industry.
According to Alleghany District Manager John Evans, these winning teachers are also helping their schools as Blue Ridge Energy is awarding an additional $150 to each of their schools to be used to help with COVID-related teaching challenges. “This is a unique time for our students and educators. I’m pleased and proud that Blue Ridge is able to fund creative classroom ideas and provide a little help to each of the winning schools,” Evans explained.
Blue Ridge Energy is part of several North Carolina electric cooperatives providing Bright Ideas grants. Together, they have provided more than $12.9 million for classroom projects impacting over 2.5 million students in North Carolina.
Blue Ridge Energy is a member-owned electric cooperative serving some 76,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Avery, Alexander and Wilkes counties. To learn more about the Bright Ideas grants program, visit Blue Ridge Energy’s web site at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com or contact your local Blue Ridge Energy office.