Snapping Shoals EMC recently awarded $15,000 in Bright Ideas grants to Newton County Schools. Pictured are, left to right, SSEMC Vice President of Economic Development & External Affairs Chris Wood, Newton County Schools (NCS) Board of Education Chair Shakila Henderson-Baker, NCS Director of Grants Tiffany Merriweather and NCS Superintendent Dr. Duke Bradley III.
Each fall, Snapping Shoals EMC awards grants to teachers from the schools that the electric co-op serves in Rockdale, Newton, Henry and DeKalb counties through the co-op's Bright Ideas program. The grants, which are allocated from the co-op's unclaimed capital credit funds, are designed to help teachers who wish to extend educational opportunities and activities for students by developing student interests and abilities.
Teachers have innovative ideas about how learning can be made more exciting, effective and interesting and how curriculum can be expanded to meet the needs of particular groups or individual students; however, resources are sometimes not available for special instructional opportunities. The Snapping Shoals EMC Bright Ideas grants are designed to assist teachers in the planning and implementation of these ideas.
As a non-profit organization SSEMC’s capital credits, or margins, are the revenues that are over and above the cost of providing service for the electric co-op’s customer-owners. These are required by lending institutions to establish financial strength for loans. Snapping Shoals EMC routinely refunds these capital credits to its members when its board of directors determines it is appropriate to do so. Despite all of our efforts to locate past members, there are always those whom we cannot locate to return their patronage capital. Legislation passed in 2005 allows EMCs to retain these unclaimed capital credits that historically would be turned over to the state. The unclaimed funds are used to support Snapping Shoals EMC’s various educational programs, as well as other community and economic development projects.
Congratulations to this year's Newton County Bright Ideas winners!
• Allisa Abraham Newton College & Career Academy, The STEM Garden Project: Growing Active Thinkers and Doers
• Amanda Kirkham & Elizabeth Rogers, Newton County STEAM Academy, Drones in the Elementary Classroom (Agriculture & Digital Media)
• Amanda Restivo, South Salem Elementary School, Las Calaveras
• Andrew Pollard, Newton College & Career Academy, Plasma Table Fire Pits and Ornaments
• Blake Alexander, East Newton Elementary, Safety First, Gymnastics Second!
• Catrina Pollard, Eastside High School, BeeGuardians: Cultivating Environmental Stewards through Hands-On Beekeeping
• Dr. Frances Vereen-Dunbar, Clements Middle School, Civil War Immersion: A Virtual Reality Journey
• Dr. Katherine Fielder, Allison Smith & Shakena Gray, Newton County STEAM Academy, Literacy for All
• Jennifer Novak Garibay & Gary Thompson, Indian Creek Middle School, Harnessing Wind Power
• Kemily Pattillo & Marcus Pollard, Newton College & Career Academy, Squeaky Clean: Making Soap While Learning About our Natural Resources
• Kerrie Carlile, Newton High School, Blood Splatter Tent
• Lee Shepard, Eastside High School, High School Classroom Chicken Hatchery Project
• Melinda Atkinson, East Newton Elementary School, Sensory Underload
• Melissa Greer, Indian Creek Middle School, Growing the Guinea Pigs
• Rachel Harris, Eastside High School, Volume Discovery Learning through GeoSolids
• Sarah Beth Hammond, Eastside High School, Sow, Grow, Bloom: Cultivating Passion with Hands-On Learning
• Sondra Griffin, Newton College & Career Academy, Blowing Them Away: Exploring Wind Energy
