Teachers Win Bright Ideas Grants from Blue Ridge Energy

LENOIR, NORTH CAROLINA (November 17, 2017)…Exciting, hands-on learning projects are coming to local classrooms thanks to $5,471 in Bright Ideas grants awarded recently by Blue Ridge Energy to local educators during a special luncheon honoring winning teachers and their principals.

Bright Ideas is an academic grants program sponsored by Blue Ridge Energy in conjunction with North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation and its 26 other member electric cooperatives. Bright Ideas grants help further traditional academic learning by funding innovative scholastic projects that go beyond available school funding.

Caldwell County grant winners are:

Abby Hudgens of Granite Falls Elementary for “Building Bridges through Bilingual Books.” This $570 grant will provide English language learning classrooms with bilingual books to strengthen language and reading skills.

Jenny Jurney of Granite Falls Elementary for “Actually, it IS Rocket Science!” The grant for $550 will be used to support science projects involving solar farms and rockets.

Megan Lovins of Hudson Elementary for “Solar City.” This $1,425 grant will provide materials needed to create a miniature city that is reliant on solar energy.

Rachel Main of Granite Falls Middle for “Fish Poop & Farm Food: Sustainable Farming through Aquaponics.” The grant for $1,466 will allow students to work with the City Farm Project to build an aquaponics system.

Joseph Meredith of Caldwell Early College High School for “Bringing Geometry to Life.” This $480 grant will provide a Geometer’s Sketchpad program to assist geometry students with solving mathematical problems.

Connie Root of Caldwell Career Center for “No Spectators Allowed.” The $980 grant will assist in buying equipment to alleviate issues associated with larger class sizes, ensuring that no child is left spectating, instead of participating.

Blue Ridge Energy received 63 applications for the 2017-2018 school year from schools in its service area of Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes and Avery counties. Funds totaling $19,550 were awarded to 25 classrooms to benefit hundreds of local students. To date, Blue Ridge Energy has awarded more than $445,500 in Bright Ideas classroom grants that has impacted thousands of local students and teachers. Blue Ridge Energy is part of several North Carolina electric cooperatives providing Bright Ideas grants. Together, they have provided more than $10.2 million for classroom projects impacting over 2 million students in North Carolina.

Blue Ridge Energy is a member-owned electric cooperative serving some 74,000 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.