SUPPLY, NC, November 3, 2005:
BEMC honored teachers who submitted winning Bright Ideas grants with a luncheon at the co-op’s headquarters in Shallotte. The teachers and their principals were presented with a Bright Ideas check to fund innovative teaching ideas. Sixteen area schools will benefit from the Bright Ideas Educational Grant checks which totaled $24,265. The grants are awarded to teachers who develop creative new programs that are not funded within the usual school budget process.

Robert W.“Chip” Leavitt, Jr., CEO of BEMC said, “With this program, we’re showing how much we respect what our teachers do for our communities. One reason we take such an interest in the education of our children is because they are the future employees of our company, and we love to see them getting exposed to some of the technologies that we use at BEMC. Support for our schools is a major component of our commitment to community, and a core value of co-ops everywhere.”

This year’s winning grants showed an emphasis on science and technology, but also included the arts, history, reading, language and social skills. Several of the programs apply technology to other disciplines, as in using multimedia and computer tools to create a scrapbook of photos and written materials.


Grant recipients in Brunswick County:
Click on the hyperlink above for photos.
Teacher School Program

Pat Fenton

Jessie Mae Monroe Elementary

“Making Home-School and English-Spanish Connections”

Kasey Abbott

Union Elementary

"Learning Live"

Jenni Johnson

Southport Elementary

“Creating a Memory”

Martha Mentzer

Supply Elementary

“Basketball Poets”

Gail Thomas

Evelyn Wray Smith Village School

“Experiment and Learn”

Rita Moffett

Shallotte Middle

“Energy Transfer”

Jason Pring

North Brunswick High

“Using Technology to Teach Earth & Environmental Science”

Louine Teague

West Brunswick High

"Technology in the Geometry Classroom"

Patricia Lyles

South Brunswick
High

"Cougars Purr"


Grant recipients in Columbus County
Click on the hyperlink above for photos.
Teacher School Program

Sammie Worley & Carolyn Barnes

Fair Bluff Elementary

"Solution Seekers"

Jimmy Dale Price

Guideway Elementary

“Passing the Torch of Technology”

Lynn Spaulding

Hallsboro-Artesia Elem

“Wee Publishers”

Kelly Strickland Graham

Tabor City Elementary

“Bright Idea Boxes”

Marcia Field

Williams Township

“Elementary & Middle School Ceramics”

Julie Sellers

Williams Township

“Powerful Presentations”

Velvet Hardwick

Hallsboro Middle

“Technology for Tigers”