Bright Ideas in Education
Current 2009-2010 Winners and Program History
French Broad Electric Membership Corporation is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2009-2010 Bright Ideas Grants program. 

Buncombe County
Marti Svoboda-Sidelnick – North Buncombe Elementary
Jennifer Sheak – Clyde A. Erwin Middle
Dr. Michael Bowman – North Buncombe High

Madison County
Kristin Dillon  - Brush Creek Elementary
Jeannie Miller – Brush Creek Elementary
Dr. Tony Tipton  - Madison High
Shelly Burlew – Madison High

Mitchell County
Kristie Autrey – Deyton Elementary
Gregory Franklin – Deyton Elementary
Brandy Stockton – Tipton Hill Elementary
Renee Johnson – Gouge Elementary
Ed Duncan – Mitchell High
Megan Hall – Mitchell High

Unicoi County, TN
Evelyn Dwyer – Love Chapel Elementary
Elizabeth Tester – Temple Hill Elementary
Sandy Green – Unicoi County Middle
Amy Edwards – Unicoi County High

Yancey County
Peggy Wheeler – Micaville Elementary
Cody Tipton – Bald Creek Elementary
Amanda DeSua and Dawn Proffitt – East Yancey Middle
Kim Hopson – East Yancey Middle
Miranda Wheeler – Cane River Middle
Belinda Woody – Mountain Heritage High

North Carolina teachers are professionals who consistently and creatively inspire our state’s youth, usually stretching shoestring budgets or spending from their own pockets as they educate. In addition to instructing their students in academics, teachers serve as role models, boost self esteem, teach individual and community values, coach sports, lead clubs and stress the importance of education and its grounding effect on their future life’s work.

French Broad EMC is one of the 27 North Carolina electric cooperatives which recognizes that success in the classroom comes from more than textbook lessons and that teachers with “bright ideas” add incalculable value to the educational process. To encourage such innovation, the electric cooperatives offer Bright Ideas grants, which provide North Carolina K-12 teachers with money to finance yearlong creative projects that would otherwise not be funded.  Since it began in 1994, the Bright Ideas program has awarded more than $5 million in grant money to North Carolina teachers.  Unicoi County has been included in the Bright Ideas program since 1999 due to portions of the county being located in French Broad EMC’s service territory.

In addition to stimulating student participation, these diverse classroom projects, which frequently benefit the school and its greater community, integrate multiple academic subjects, cutting-edge technology, social awareness and multigenerational relationships.

Besides providing electric service to members, North Carolina’s rural electric cooperatives believe supporting teachers – and their bright ideas – is a vital part of their mission to improve the lives of the more than 2.5 million people they serve in 93 counties throughout the state.