Throughout November and December, Union Power Cooperative awarded close to $22,000 to 19 lucky educators in our service territory. These grants will impact 6,700 students over the next year.
On November 28, the Union Power prize patrol, assisted by Carolina Panthers center Tyler Larsen, running back Kaelin Clay and team mascot Sir Purr, presented checks to two teachers at Wingate Elementary during a surprise assembly.
Teacher Teresa Higgins won a Bright Ideas grant for her “Light Up the Mind’s Eye!” project. Her project will impact the entire school, teaching students to rely on their brains to create a better understanding of the world around them. Teacher Joya Wortham won for her Bright Ideas grant, “My Sister’s Keeper”. This award will impact 3rd through 5th grade girls with mentoring services designed to teach them to reach for their dreams.
After the checks were presented to the teachers, Larsen and Clay spoke to students about working hard in school and answered questions from the students. The surprise event was part of a two-month long celebration of surprising teachers with awards to celebrate their innovation and creativity in the classroom.
The Co-op has funded more than $361,000 Bright Ideas grants since the program began in 1994. More than $10.9 million has been awarded by North Carolina’s 26 electric cooperatives to teachers statewide. The Bright Ideas program has reached well over 2.1 million students from across the state and has sponsored more than 10,400 projects in all subjects. Learn more about Union Power Cooperative and Bright Ideas Education Grants.
| 2017–2018 Bright Ideas Winners | |||
| School | Project Name | Grant | Teacher |
| Central Elementary | Muddy Sneakers, the Joy of Learning Outside | $1,500 | Amber Flamer |
| Concord Middle | Serving Success | $1,757 | Shanna Meehan |
| Marvin Ridge High | Souper Students Helping the Hungry | $1,797 | Chris Roncone & Stacy Corday |
| Oakboro Choice S.T.E.M. School—K-8 | Seeds of Sustainability at Oakboro Choice STEM | $1,000 | Hannah Griffin |
| Patriots STEM Elementary | NASCAR Hall of Fame | $558 | Heather Stowe |
| Piedmont High | Glass Transformations | $2,000 | Tiffany Medford and Tracy Price |
| Poplin Elementary | Thankful Thursdays | $500 | Marianne Conti, Sarah Mintz, Kelly Hagerman, Amanda Ball & Tracy Vargas |
| Ridge Road Middle | Ridge Road Greenhouse Project | $1,189 | Eddie Hubert, Jaclyn Cannon, Kenyanti Brooks & Richie Egnor |
| Rockwell Elementary | Operation Deployment | $502 | Breanne Dietz |
| Rocky River Elementary | Observing the Unseen | $1,000 | Adam Haas |
| Sun Valley High | Solar Electric Pet Shelter | $1,569 | Eddie Mull |
| Union Academy | The Trail of Native Americans on School Grounds | $1,750 | Susan Helms, Stacy Ferguson and Morgan Miles |
| Union County Virtual | Seeing With My Own Eyes—Virtually Everywhere! | $484 | Andrew Starnes & Alicia Swackhamer |
| W. M. Irvin Elementary | Adventures of Irv and Ivy | $1,999 | Emily Schmidt & Sarah McAlister |
| West Stanly Middle | West Stanly Middle—Book Ninjas | $500 | Michelle Meehan |
| Wingate Elementary | My Sister’s Keeper | $508 | Joya Wortham |
| Wingate Elementary | Light up the Mind’s Eye! | $135 | Teresa Higgins |
| Winkler Middle | Winkler Kids Getting Active & Saving Lives | $1,000 | Michael Petersen & Katherine Clymer |
| Wolfe School | Inclusive Tablet Time | $1,222 | Susan Samsel & Cheryl Nebel |
Bright Ideas grant applications can be submitted each year, and winning proposals are selected by a panel of judges through a competitive evaluation process. Visit Union Power Cooperative's website to learn more about Bright Ideas.
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