Bright Ideas in Education
Current 2007-2008 Winners and Program History
French Broad Electric Membership Corporation is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2007-2008 Bright Ideas Grants program. 

Buncombe County
Edee Daniels – Barnardsville Elementary
Caryn Levy – Leicester Elementary
Marti Svoboda-Sidelnick – North Buncombe Elementary
Cammy Jacobelly – Clyde A. Erwin Middle
Rita Norton – North Buncombe Middle

Madison County
Frieda Ponder – Brush Creek Elementary
Charles Cutshall – Laurel Elementary
Janet Bean – Mars Hill Elementary
Betty Shook – Madison Middle
Lee Ann Bogle – Madison High
Patrick Austin – Madison High

Mitchell County
Priscilla Dunn – Deyton Elementary
Don Seatz – Gouge Elementary
Dana Ledford – Gouge Elementary
Wendy Holloway – Tipton Hill Elementary
Jackie Rensink – Harris Middle
Jennifer Gergory – Harris Middle

Unicoi County, TN
Evelyn Dwyer – Love Chapel Elementary
Elizabeth Tester – Temple Hill Elementary
Michael Scott – Unicoi County Middle
Sgt. Mel Cooper, AFJROTC – Unicoi County High

Yancey County
Kay Ball – Clearmont Elementary
Melanie Bennett – Micaville Elementary
Pat Thomas – Micaville Elementary
Sarah Delcourt – East Yancey Middle
Angel Willis – 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.