A teacher learns about cooperatives

As part of her immersion into the electric cooperative business, Leigh Ann Hudson (left), Riverside High School teacher in Martin County, helped a crew from Edgecombe-Martin County EMC run service to a new residence.  She’s learning from (back to front) Alan Johnson (lineman coordinator), Sammy Clark (lead lineman) and Nick Cannon (first-class lineman).

A visit to substation, a walk through a solar farm, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a landfill gas-to-energy site: Leigh Ann Hudson’s first week with Edgecombe-Martin County EMC was far from an ordinary day at the office.

Hudson spends the school year as a teacher, but this summer as a Kenan Fellow she devoted five weeks to the business of the cooperative.

The Kenan Fellows Program pairs exceptional K–12 North Carolina educators and local businesses. Kenan Fellows can translate their experience into lesson plans designed to foster understanding of the host business, as well as to reveal how STEM concepts (science, technology, engineering and math) apply in real life.

Leigh Ann Hudson worked side-by-side with linemen, managers, customer service representatives and other co-op staff to learn about the cooperative way of business and trace the path of electricity from generation to a member’s home.