Blue Ridge Electric Awards Local Educators Grants For Innovative Teaching Projects

For Immediate Release

Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Corporate Communications, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383 ext. 3213; Pager:1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener

West Jefferson, North Carolina (November 13, 2003) – Grants totaling more than $5,300 were awarded to six local educators today by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation during a luncheon ceremony at Frasers restaurant honoring the cooperative’s Bright Ideas grants recipients.

Bright Ideas is an academic grants program sponsored by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation in conjunction with the 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.

Winners of the grants are:

• Julie Taylor, of Ashe County Middle School, for “Media Wise: An In-Depth Look at the World and Words of Advertising and Mass Media” which will benefit approximately 70 seventh-grade students in the language arts and math curriculum areas as they study how some advertising can be manipulative. The grant totaled $815.

• Martha Edmonds, with team member Mary Howell, of Ashe County Middle School, for “Erosion Solution and School Beautification Project”, which will help 93 students develop math, writing and technology skills as they discover a direct relationship between textbook education and problem solving in daily life. The grant totaled $1,977.

• George Zeller, with team member Linda Sloan, of Ashe County High School, for “Keep Reading” which will benefit 100 students who need additional reading motivation. The grant totaled $700.

• Jodi Grubb, with team members Anna Orr, Pam Badin, and Karen Day, of Ashe County Middle School, for “Bowled Over with School” to assist 114 seventh- and eighth-graders, including exceptional students, students with severe disabilities, and learning disabilities, develop skills in math, reading, physical fitness, personal skills, and communications. The grant totaled $970.

• Teresa Stansberry, of Blue Ridge Elementary School, for “Birdhouse Applications” to benefit 68 sixth-graders by providing a hands-on approach to teaching geometry, measurement, economics, and spatial concepts. The grant totaled $500.

• Cathy Shepherd, of Mountain View Elementary School, for “Art a la Carte” to benefit more than 700 students from ages three to 12 in 34 classes by giving students access to wider variety of art tools and materials. The grant totaled $350.

Each September, Blue Ridge Electric seeks applications from area educators and principals serving grades K-12 in public schools. Grants are awarded in amounts from $100 to a maximum of $2,000. For the 2003-2004 school year, Blue Ridge Electric received seventy-eight Bright Ideas grant applications from schools in its service territory of Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Avery and Wilkes County. Funds totaling $17,744 are being awarded to 19 classroom teachers to directly benefit thousands of area students, teachers, schools and communities. Blue Ridge Electric is celebrating its 10th year of offering Bright Ideas grants as part of our support and commitment to education. To date, the cooperative has awarded over $175,000 and provided direct funding assistance that has impacted over 50,000 students.

To learn more about the Bright Ideas grants program, visit Blue Ridge Electric’s web site at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com or contact your local Blue Ridge Electric office and ask for Grey Scheer, director of community relations.