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

Lenoir, North Carolina (November 17, 2003) – Grants totaling $5,750 were awarded to six local educators today by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation during a luncheon ceremony at Berkley’s 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:

• Judy Robertson, with team members Barbara Whittington and Scott Taylor, of Hibriten High School, for “Hooks, Lines but no Singers!” to benefit 200 students. The grant totaled $1,000 and helps advanced high school physical science students become “teachers” as they perform fascinating chemistry demonstrations for 4th and 5th graders and help them make science experiments such as silly putty and “slime”.

• Shawn Moore, with team members Amanda McLean, Darrin Foddrell, Jessica Griffith, Angie Woods, and Meredith Belk, of William Lenoir Middle School, for “The Appalachian Experience” to benefit 180 students. The grant was for $1,000 and will help students study the local environment, geology, and culture found in the Appalachian Mountains with the focus on how the Appalachian ecosystem impacts the local culture.

• Libby Huff, of Granite Falls Middle School, for “Classroom Robot” to benefit all Granite Fall Middle School students. The grant was for $1,500 and will give students an opportunity to build and experiment with a real, life-size fully functional robot that inspires students to learn math, science, and technology.

• Emily Wike, with team mates Beth Woodward, Joshua Scot, and Evette Hagan, of Davenport Elementary School, for “Playworks” to benefit 271 students at several schools. The grant totaled $750 and focuses on playwriting in K-12 classrooms. Students will perform a partnership and will select a playwright form the North Carolina Playwright’s Alliance to share in residence for three weeks. At the end of the residency, the students will select a playwright from the North Carolina Playwright’s Alliance to share in residence for three weeks. At the end of the residency, the students will present a festival and send three works to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for a staged reading.

• Beth Woodard, with team mates Evette Hagan and Emily Wike of South Caldwell High School, for “Playworks” to benefit 271 students and coordinating with the “Playworks” grant listed above for Davenport Elementary. The grant was for $750.

• Joshua Scott, with team mates Beth Woodard, Evette Hagan, and Emily Wike, of Hibriten High School, for “Playworks” to benefit 271 students and coordinating with the grant listed above for Davenport Elementary School and South Caldwell High School. The grant totaled $750.

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.