Millbridge and Faith elementary schools have been awarded Bright Ideas grants by the Union Power Cooperative.
Millbridge’s Kelly Youngo, Laura Lindley and Chrissy Rowland won $902 for their project, “Electricity and Magnetism.”
Faith’s Carie Hayworth and Karen Moyes won $1,239 for their project, “The Bookformers.”
More than 100 students will benefit from the grants, which were presented during surprise visits to classrooms earlier this month.
Union Power Cooperative granted more than $20,000 this year to area teachers for their “bright ideas.”
The Bright Ideas grant program, sponsored by North Carolina’s electric cooperatives, strives to improve education in classrooms by awarding grants to teachers for innovative, classroom-based projects in grades K-12 that would not otherwise be funded. The program has awarded more than $7.3 million to sponsor 6,500 projects.
“The Bright Ideas program gives teachers a chance to be creative and develop projects specifically to meet the needs of their students,” said Carrie Cameron, manager of communications at Union Power Cooperative. “These grants underwrite educational initiatives the schools could not otherwise afford.”
The funds go to teachers, principals and other educators, with awards of up to $2,000 being offered for projects in any discipline.
Volunteer judges, including educators and community leaders, in a competitive evaluation process, screen the grant applications. Judges across the state reviewed more than 1,800 applications this year.
Union Power Cooperative is a member-owned electric cooperative, which provides electric service to more than 66,000 members in Union, Stanly, Mecklenburg, Cabarrus and Rowan counties.