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Ashe County: Teachers Win Bright Ideas Grants from Blue Ridge Energy: Celebrating 30 Years!
West Jefferson, North Carolina (December 11, 2024) — Now in its 30th year of helping teachers create creative learning projects for students, Blue Ridge Energy is awarding $5,755 in Bright Ideas grants to five local Ashe classrooms.
Bright Ideas is an academic grants program sponsored annually by Blue Ridge Energy. Bright Ideas grants help further traditional academic learning by funding innovative educational projects beyond available school funding.
Blue Ridge Energy has awarded over $649,000 in Bright Ideas classroom grants, impacting over 146,000 local students and teachers. In celebration of its 30th year of Bright Ideas, the cooperative is funding winning grants totaling $30,000 to 30 classrooms this year in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, and Wilkes counties.
Ashe County grant-winning teachers are:
Kevin Miller of Westwood Elementary for “Caught in a Pickle.” The $620 grant will purchase pickleball paddles and balls to introduce students to the fastest-growing sport in America!
Kasey Jones of Ashe County Middle for “Storm Chasers: Unleashing Meteorological Magic in the Classroom.” The $950 grant will purchase a complete weather station to allow students to engage with weather station equipment directly, gaining hands-on experience in data collection and analysis.
Leeann Cronk of Ashe County Middle for “DIY Flightless Fruit Flies: Using Patterns of Heredity to Design Wingless Wonders.” This $1,335 grant will purchase five stereomicroscopes, which provide a 3D view of insects, single-celled organisms, dissections, and magnification of larger objects to aid students in studying genetics.
Tonya Denny of Ashe County High for “Fueling Innovation with the HP Elite Tower 600 G9.” This $1,500 grant will purchase a cutting-edge computer for the design lab with the computing power to allow students to seamlessly run demanding 3D CAD programs, explore their creativity, iterate on designs, and bring their digital creations to life through 3D printing.
Katherine Greene of Westwood Elementary for “Canvas & Code: The STEAM Experience.” This $1,350 grant will be used to establish an art club that integrates the principles of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) to foster creativity, critical thinking, and interdisciplinary learning.
“Blue Ridge Energy is proud to be in our 30th year of providing Bright Ideas grants to support our schools and teachers in building brighter futures for our communities,” said Tasha Rountree, director of community relations and economic development for Blue Ridge Energy. “I’m proud that Blue Ridge can help by funding creative classroom projects that bring innovative learning experiences to our students.”
Blue Ridge Energy is part of several North Carolina electric cooperatives that provide Bright Ideas grants. Together, they have provided over $16 million for over 14,700 classroom projects, impacting over 3.65 million students in North Carolina.
Blue Ridge Energy is a member-owned electric cooperative serving some 80,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Avery, Alexander, and Wilkes counties. To learn more about the Bright Ideas grants program, visit www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com or contact your local Blue Ridge Energy office.
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