Bright Ideas Grants Help Support COVID-19 Response

Pee Dee Electric grant winner Whitney Smith and her students at Washington Street Elementary

North Carolina’s electric cooperatives have awarded more than $660,000 for 563 NC Bright Ideas education grants that will bring learning to life for more than 137,000 students across the state this school year.

Halifax EMC grant winners from the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School submitted a project that enhances virtual learning by providing students with a drawing tablet to work out problems and send them to their teachers in an image format.

Since 1994, electric cooperatives in North Carolina have partnered with educators statewide to provide Bright Ideas grants to K–12 educators for projects that engage students in innovative ways and wouldn’t otherwise be funded. Grants awarded over the years now total $13.6 million.

This year, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, local cooperatives also provided support for projects that would help students adapt to a modified school environment.

“This year’s grant applications were filled with unique ideas geared to help students learn both in the classroom and virtually,” said Melissa Glenn, communications specialist at Newport based Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative. “The innovative and creative learning initiatives developed by our area’s teachers are impressive, and we are proud to help them facilitate these projects.”