Wake Forest, NC- Kathy Brown, media specialist for Wakefield Elementary, a school sponsored by Wake Electric, recently won the Bright Ideas grant program’s early bird incentive drawing. Teachers from across the state were encouraged to apply for a Bright Ideas grant on or before August 17, and their names would be entered into a drawing for a $500 Visa gift card.
Brown was randomly selected out of 426 applicants from across the state that turned in their application before the August 17 early bird deadline. Wake Electric had the most teachers apply early from any electric cooperative across the state.
“We’re proud to support educators whose hard work, dedication and enthusiasm impact the lives of so many young people,” said Darnell Alford, Bright Ideas coordinator for Wake Electric. “They give so much to their students, and through the grants and the early-bird prize, we’re honored to give something back. We are ecstatic and proud that one of our teachers won the $500 Visa gift card this year.”
The Bright Ideas education grant program, which awards funding to N.C. teachers for innovative classroom-based projects, is still accepting applications. The final deadline to apply is September 12.
Bright Ideas, sponsored by North Carolina’s electric cooperatives (which includes Wake Electric), strives to improve education in North Carolina’s classrooms by awarding grants to teachers in grades K-12 for projects that would not otherwise be funded. The program is the only one of its kind in the state exclusively for K-12 teachers. The program has sponsored a wide variety of hands-on projects in all disciplines. Grants of up to $3,000 are available through Wake Electric for public school teachers.
Last year, Wake Electric funded 24 Bright Ideas grants totaling more than $50,000.
To apply, educators must submit an application that includes a description of the project’s goals, implementation, creative elements and budget. Applications will be judged in a competitive evaluation process, and judges will be on the lookout for projects that feature innovation and creativity.
To apply, please visit www.ncbrightideas.com.
Since 1994, Bright Ideas has awarded more than $7.9 million for 7,700 projects benefiting 1.4 million students statewide.
The funds for the Bright Ideas grants sponsored by Wake Electric come from Wake Electric members who agree to round up their electric bill to the nearest whole dollar through the Operation RoundUp program. For example, if the bill is $190.91 – the bill will be rounded up 9 cents to $191.00. These pennies add up to major dollars. Partial funding also comes from the North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation (NCEMC), located in Raleigh, NC. NCEMC consists of a family of corporations formed to support the state’s 26 electric cooperatives.
Wake Electric is a non-profit electric utility serving over 35,500 members in parts of Franklin, Durham, Granville, Johnston, Vance, Nash, and Wake counties.