Applications sought for Bright Ideas grants

RALEIGH — The Bright Ideas education grant program, which awards funding to teachers in North Carolina for innovative classroom-based projects, is accepting applications.

North Carolina’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives, including North Carolina Electric Membership Corp. in Raleigh, have earmarked more than $590,000 to distribute to teachers this coming school year.

The final deadline to apply for a grant is in September, but educators who apply by the Aug. 15 “early bird” deadline will be entered in a drawing for a $500 Visa gift card.

Certified teachers in K-12 classrooms are eligible to apply for Bright Ideas grants for creative projects that would otherwise go unfunded. Maximum grant amounts range from $1,000 to $3,000, depending on the sponsoring cooperative. Teachers can learn about the Bright Ideas program and apply online at www.ncbrightideas.com.

The drawing for the $500 gift card will be held Sept. 1, and the winning teacher will be notified immediately and recognized on the Bright Ideas website and Facebook page.

Since the Bright Ideas program began in 1994, the electric cooperatives have awarded more than $7.3 million in grant money to North Carolina’s teachers to sponsor more than 7,000 projects benefiting more than 1.3 million students.

The grant application includes an explanation and outline of the proposed project, its creative elements and its benefit to students in the classroom. A list of participating schools, a sample application and featured grants are available on the Bright Ideas website, along with contact information for Bright Ideas program administrators.