Local Teachers Receive Grants for their Bright Ideas
November 7th, 2017
Amy Blessing- Malpass Corner Elementary receives grant from Four County.Four County EMC is honoring teachers and celebrating innovation in education this month by awarding $19,860 in Bright Ideas grants to 21 educators in Bladen, Duplin, Pender and Sampson counties. More than 4,200 students will participate in Bright Ideas projects funded by Four County EMC this year.
“The Bright Ideas grant winners are making a real difference for students,” said Gay Johnson, Director of Corporate Communications of Four County EMC. “Their creative projects will no doubt help students reach their full potential and spark higher interest in learning for years to come.”
Since the program began in 1994, Four County EMC has contributed more than $417,380 to local teachers. North Carolina’s electric cooperatives collectively have awarded more than $10.9 million to teachers across the state for 10,400 projects in all subjects, benefiting more than 2.1 million North Carolina students.
“Four County is committed to bettering the communities we serve, and we believe there is no better way than through the education of our youth,” Johnson said.
Winning grants include a variety of interesting projects this year. A list of the teachers and projects is included in the chart below.
Bright Ideas grant applications are collected each year through mid-September, and winning proposals are selected in a competitive evaluation process by a panel of judges. The application process will reopen for interested teachers in April 2018.
To find out more information about the Bright Ideas grant program, visit http://www.fourcty.org/ or the Bright Ideas website at http://www.ncbrightideas.com/. Like Four County’s Facebook page “Four County Electric Membership Corporation” to receive local updates or become a fan of “Bright Ideas Education” on Facebook to receive regularly updated news about the program.
Four County EMC serves over 32,500 members in Bladen, Duplin, Pender, Sampson, Columbus and Onslow counties.
Bladen County
| Bright Ideas Grant Winner | School | Grant Title | Amount |
| Melanie Wohlford | Elizabethtown Primary | MaKey MaKey Music | $1,190 |
| Whitney Hern | Elizabethtown Primary | Baking Beacons | $1,080 |
| Ron Warren | East Bladen HS | Rotoscoped Self-Portrait | $1,900 |
Duplin County
| Bright Ideas Grant Winner | School | Grant Title | Amount |
| Julie Davis | Wallace-Rose Hill HS | Locked in the Library | $1,250 |
| Anne Haugh | Chinquapin Elementary | The Power of Positive Statements | $261 |
| Britani Becher | Chinquapin Elementary | Lego Learning | $955 |
Pender County
| Bright Ideas Grant Winner | School | Grant Title | Amount |
| Chris Wirszyla, Team Member: Kelly Linville | Cape Fear Elementary | Stack it Up! | $940 |
| Chelsea Ash, Team Member: Mark Lewis | Heide Trask HS | It’s Electric and More! | $626 |
| Karen McGowen | Pender High | Breaking Out! | $750 |
| David Knowles, Team Member: Jared Pinkston | Pender High | Start a Maker Space with a CNC Router | $2,000 |
| Linda Smith | Penderlea School | Breakout Brain Blast | $635 |
| Amy Blessing | Malpass Corner Elementary | Outdoor Learning – Connecting Kids with Nature | $1,611 |
| Stephen Christian | Pender High | Game Design Club | $500 |
| Jessica Croson | Heide Trask HS | Body Parts From all Angles | $357 |
| Jared Pinkston | Pender High | Power Up Robotics with Team PHEnix | $491 |
Sampson County
| Bright Ideas Grant Winner | School | Grant Title | Amount |
| Dan Chabot | Union HS | The Real O.C. | $2,000 |
| Jennifer Li Wong | Union Middle | Pi-rate Puzzle Solver | $117 |
| Janet Taylor | Union Middle | Unlock Learning | $500 |
| Caren Long | Union Intermediate | Raspberry Pi A’ La Weather | $587 |
| Regina Sturgill-Dyer | Union Middle | Bounce and Build | $510 |
| Sandra Peterson | Union Intermediate | Learning Around the World in 180 Days with a Book and an Hug | $1,600 |