Brunswick EMC Bright Ideas Grant Helps Union School Students Reach Out to Elderly Neighbors

Shakesha Bryant and Miss Mary DeBerry, a retired school nurse work at assembling a special Valentine.


Student Amber Hickman looks forward to seeing Ms Elma Milligan whenever her third grade class from Union School visits residents at Autumn Care of Shallotte.
Warmth and smiles abound as the students learn about caring for and relating to the elderly and the residents get smiles and hugs to brighten their day.

SUPPLY, NC, April 1, 2003 - - - Third graders are lively, curious, funny and creative, and sometimes a little shy, especially around adults. Teacher Bonnie Stanley at Union School in Supply developed a win-win program to help her students overcome their shyness and let their natural gifts benefit a community group that really responds to the children’s enthusiasm.
With the help of a Bright Ideas educational grant from Brunswick Electric, Stanley’s third graders visit residents at Autumn Care of Shallotte several times throughout the school year. By making multiple visits, the students and residents establish a personal connection and both groups look forward to seeing each other. Students bring special activities to share with the residents, to help bridge the generation gap and also to overcome the shyness that may come from getting to know someone much older, or someone that needs extra special care.
Many of the home’s residents are retired schoolteachers or school workers, or have grandchildren and great-grandchildren that they don’t get to see as often as they’d like, so the Union School group is always welcome. Most recently, the groups brought materials to make Valentine’s Day items, and helped the residents cut, paste and color all sorts of creations. Each resident had a pile of cards and colorful decorations to bring back to their rooms at the end of the visit.
The Bright Ideas grant was used to add a digital camera to the project this year. This lets the students learn about digital technology, and makes the creation of their project scrapbooks even more fun. At the end of the year, scrapbooks will be distributed throughout the community. The photos and accompanying comments will show how the project has helped the students improve their social and presentation skills, learn more about the importance of community, and how good it feels to give of themselves to others.

Brunswick EMC originated the Bright Ideas program in 1994. Other co-ops across the state joined in quickly and today all 27 electric cooperatives in NC participate, providing teachers with funding to help them provide top-quality instruction. Since 1994, the cooperatives have awarded Bright Ideas grants totaling over $3 million dollars to teachers for 3,000 projects in grades K-12 across the state.
Robert W. (Chip) Leavitt, CEO and General Manager of Brunswick EMC said, “At BEMC, we believe in supporting our teachers. They work hard to develop fresh, creative ways to teach our children the educational and life skills that are so important to succeed in our world. The Bright Ideas program is just one way that BEMC and its members make a difference in our community.”
Bright Ideas grants can be as much as $2,000 each and are available to all teachers in grades K-12. The application process for the 2003-2004 school year grants will open on May 1, with applications accepted through September 30. We urge interested teachers to visit the Bright Ideas website at www.ncbrightideas.com for further information.
Brunswick EMC, headquartered in Shallotte provides electric power to over 62,000 members in Brunswick, Columbus and parts of Bladen and Robeson counties. Brunswick EMC is a Touchstone Energy partner, providing reliable, safe, affordable electric power to residential and commercial members.