Blue Ridge Electric Awards 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 15, 2004) – Grants totaling more than $5,000 were awarded to local educators today by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation during a luncheon ceremony at Fraser'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:
- Teresa Stansberry, of Blue Ridge Elementary School, for “Radio Days” which will benefit sixth-grade students. The project will allow students to participate in a live, local radio show and have them complete an in-depth study of radio drama. The grant totaled $506.
- Margo Bennett Mullinax, of Ashe County Middle School, for “Culture Library”, which will benefit all Ashe County Middle School students. The project will create an extracurricular audio-visual library that will expose students to the diverse culture associate with Spanish-speaking countries and incorporate them into formal lessons The grant totaled $750.
- Thelma Kastl, of Ashe County High School, for “Manufacturing Magic” which will benefit approximately 120 high school students. The project helps high school students learn about manufacturing processes by researching, designing, implementing, producing and marketing silver jewelry. The grant totaled $1,827.
- John Christian Watson, of Blue Ridge Elementary School, for “The Power of Music.” The project will reach all Blue Ridge Elementary students by providing an exciting new inventory of musical instruments to a school that lacked these materials. The grant totaled $1,993.
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 2004-2005 school year Blue Ridge Electric received 72 Bright Ideas grant applications from schools in its service territory of Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Avery and Wilkes County. Funds totaling $18,634 are being awarded to 15 classroom teachers to directly benefit thousands of area students, teachers, schools and communities. Blue Ridge Electric is celebrating its eleventh year of offering Bright Ideas grants as part of its support and commitment to education. Since 1994, the cooperative has awarded nearly $200,000 in Bright Ideas grants through 232 different grants impacting over 55,000 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.
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