Columbus Career and College Academy masonry student Maria Torres has won five competitions using the levels purchased with a Bright Ideas grant.

Now in its 25th year, BEMC’s Bright Ideas education grant program is accepting applications for grants to fund innovative classroom projects that may otherwise not receive funding.

The deadline to apply for a 2019 Bright Ideas grant is September 23, 2019; however, teachers who submit an application by August 15 will be entered into our Early Bird drawing for a $100 Visa gift card.

“Bright Ideas elevated our program and I would urge everyone to apply for a grant.”

The Bright Ideas education grant program is celebrating 25 years of making creative, innovative projects possible in North Carolina K-12 classrooms. Since the program began in 1994, educators statewide have received more than $12.2 million in Bright Ideas grant funding for nearly 11,700 projects benefiting 2.3 million North Carolina students. Locally, BEMC has provided 426 grants totaling more than $617,000 to classrooms across Brunswick and Columbus counties.

A Bright Ideas Profile

Fred Mason, a teacher at Columbus Career and College Academy, has received several Bright Ideas grants in past years for his masonry program. He has purchased professional quality levels to help his students compete at the state level and has incorporated technology into his curriculum with the help of Bright Ideas grants.

“The computers we applied for were to help our students get OSHA certified and this year, every student in the program received OSHA certification. We have also won several competitions using the levels we purchased with our Bright Ideas grant,” said Mason. “Bright Ideas elevated our program and I would urge everyone to apply for a grant.”