Tri-County EMC Awards 37 Bright Ideas Grants to Local Teachers

In December, Tri-County EMC awarded 37 teachers in Jones, Putnam, Baldwin, and Jasper Counties with education grants totaling $45,000. Outside judges evaluated applications for innovation, goals, objectives, student involvement, and budget. With the help of Bright Ideas Education Grants, hundreds of students will benefit from hands-on learning experiences brought forth by their teacher’s dedication to the education community.

Since 2008, Tri-County EMC has provided more than $350,000 in grants to local schools. Funded by unclaimed capital credits, the grants help teachers improve education in their classrooms through innovative projects that would otherwise not be funded. Georgia-certified public or private school teachers in grades Pre-K through 12th Grade in Baldwin, Jones, Putnam, Jasper, Twiggs, and Wilkinson Counties qualify to apply. All winning projects are listed below.

 

JONES COUNTY SCHOOLS | AWARDED $15,556.90

Clifton Ridge Middle School:
Charm Mapp | Real People Do Math
Granted $420.30 to expand the classroom library, including books on various topics and individuals so that students can continue learning about the magic of mathematics!

Layla Frost | Calculators for 8th Grade
Granted $1,013.70 to make calculators accessible to all 8th-grade math classes.

Shoshana Fuller | Minecraft Education
Granted $1,498 to purchase Minecraft Education, a program that allows students to engage in immersive, project-based learning activities using the fun world of Minecraft.

Dames Ferry Elementary School:
Tammy Sibley | Classroom Carpet Community
Granted $500 to add a classroom carpet time program that promotes an inclusive learning environment where students practice social-emotional skills through shared reading and journaling experiences.

Ashley Bracewell | Sort It Out!
Granted $859.46 to purchase materials needed to begin a recycling initiative involving STEM lessons on pollution and learning how to keep the earth clean.

Molly Batchelor | Walking to Learn!
Granted $1,435 to incorporate The Walking Classroom, a program designed for students to listen to grade-specific content while walking.

Cathy Logue | Journaling for the Next Generation
Granted $1,415 to provide students with access to Thermanote portable wireless thermal printers for use with their STEM journals.

Gray Elementary School:
Heather Jackson | Kindergarteners Get Ready to Write!
Granted $1,208.04 to purchase primary writing journals, pencil grips, spacemen, writing paper, letter tracing sensory pads, and light-up sand alphabet tracing and printing sets to improve the writing skills of four kindergarten classes.

Madison Cavender | AAC for Students
Granted $1,499.94 to utilize Proloquo2Go, an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) program, to help students with little to no speech communicate.

Gray Station Middle School:
Teresa Lindstrom | Seeds of Learning: Hands-On Gardening in Middle School
Granted $1,063.23 to install raised garden beds to serve as an educational tool for learning about the health and nutrition of different plants, growing seasons, and pest management, increasing community and stakeholder engagement, and expressing creativity outside the traditional classroom setting.

Jason Barbee | Academic Weapons 3.0: Sharpening Success
Granted $1,500 to elevate student performance on the Georgia Milestones Exam with personalized learning tools like Progress Learning and Quizizz.

Jackie Busch | First Chapter Fridays
Granted $373.80 to purchase five popular book sets that will encourage 8th grade students to read.

Kristen Combs | Freedom to Focus
Granted $1,460.43 to provide a creative seating arrangement with portable multiuse adjustable recliners to support the different learning styles of students.

Jones County High School:
Kathrine Thompson | Growing Biologists - Teaching Plant Reproduction and Nutrient Cycling with Hydroponics
Granted $1,310 to incorporate a hydroponic gardening project in the classroom in which students will learn to grow various edible plants.

 

PUTNAM COUNTY SCHOOLS | AWARDED $7,928.82

Gatewood Schools:
Elizabeth Mappes | Let's Hear It for Theatre!
Granted $1,477 to purchase wireless microphones for theatre students that will enhance school productions and enable the safety of performers.

Kimberly McLaulin | Math Mystery…Case Closed
Granted $1,156.74 to incorporate Chromebooks into the learning experiences of second grade math students.

Putnam County Primary School:
Jannis Wallace | Adventures in Engagement
Granted $630.28 to provide fun, hands-on resource materials in both reading and math academic areas to increase student engagement and interest.

Tamera Hill | Classroom Library
Granted $811.17 to set up a classroom library with a collection of books and resources available to students to promote reading and foster a love for learning.

Glisa Turner | Dreaming of a STREAM classroom!
Granted $1,423.58 to create designated learning spaces in the classroom designed to optimize learning: a literacy area with flexible seating, a STEM area focused on cognitive development, and an art area to encourage creative expression.

Putnam County Middle School:
Niki Hutsell | ESOL Translation
Granted $1,477.13 to purchase translation products teachers can use to communicate with new, non-English speaking students while building their English proficiency.

Putnam County High School:
Laurie Griffin | Creative Connections: A Collaborative Mural Journey
Granted $952.92 to enhance the library by collaborating with the school’s art teacher and students to create vibrant, educational murals that reflect the diverse interests and cultures of the student body while fostering a welcoming and inspiring space for learning and creativity.

 

BALDWIN COUNTY SCHOOLS | AWARDED $17,027.52

Baldwin County Early Learning Center:
Crystal Beard | Outside Learning Adventure
Granted $1,492.84 to establish an enriching outdoor educational environment that offers a wide range of learning opportunities, including hands-on science experiments to foster a love for scientific inquiry, physical activities to develop fine motor skills, and social and emotional learning exercises to promote empathy and cooperation.

Lakeview Primary School:
Ginny Gray | Game On!
Granted $518.14 to purchase different board games and puzzles to learn how to work with others without using technology.

Brenda Brown | Makers in the Media Center
Granted $1,477.80 to establish a dedicated Makerspace within the Primary School Media Center, providing a stimulating environment for K-2 students to explore their creativity, problem-solve, and develop essential 21st-century skills.

Donessa Fey | Happy’s Motivation
Granted $1,467.29 to utilize a classroom mascot, Happy the Bearded Dragon, to help students feel welcomed, excited to learn, take risks, and feel comfortable. Happy reinforces character pillars such as trustworthiness, responsibility, citizenship, fairness, and respectfulness.

Crystal Kennedy | Bringing Our Class Chameleon Back to School
Granted $1,427.78 to purchase a second setup for the class chameleon with the necessary enclosure, including a misting system, dripper system, three different light sources, a humidifier, stand for the enclosure, and the actual enclosure, chains to hang lights from, plants, and insects.

Oak Hill Middle School:
Sharon Reeves | Hydroponics in the Classroom
Granted $1,500 to incorporate hydroponics educational systems into coursework, to give students hands-on experiences exploring STEM concepts while addressing important topics related to sustainability, farm-to-school, and how food grows.

Baldwin High School:
Jessica Thompson | 21st Century Yearbooks
Granted $1,462.22 to bring the school's yearbook program into the 21st century by providing staff members access to current technology and industry tools.

GMC Prep:
Brittany Nichols | Growing Learners
Granted $1,500 to integrate the Tower Garden into the school’s science and nutrition curriculum, allowing teachers to guide students through planting, maintaining, and harvesting crops grown.

Katrina Shy | Hands-On Math Experience (HOME)
Granted $737.93 to engage students as they learn while bringing different equations to life through base-ten blocks, fraction strips, flashcards, and more.

Brittany Matthews | Flexible for Tailbones
Granted $1,084.52 to provide flexible seating options for middle school students to utilize.

John Milledge Academy:
Jacob Prestwood | Meaningful Math
Granted $1,500 to incorporate the use of iPads, Apple pencils, and apps such as "iMovie", "Whiteboard", and "Show Me Interactive Whiteboard" in middle school mathematics to provide acceleration for high-achieving students as well as remediation and differentiated instruction for lower-achieving students.

Brandon Kilby | iScience
Granted $1,500 to incorporate the use of iPads, Apple pencils, and apps such as "Visible Body”, “Anatomy Learning”, and “Visual Anatomy Lite” to provide interactive 3D opportunities for biology and anatomy students so that they may understand and apply the complex elements of human anatomy, physiology, cell structures, plant structures, biological processes, pathology, and human body systems.

Rachel Bauer | Tech-Tastic Learning: Empowering First Graders with Interactive Reading and Math Adventures
Granted $1,359 to integrate online reading and math programs, complemented by four touch-screen Chromebooks.

 

JASPER COUNTY SCHOOLS | AWARDED $4,486.76

Jasper County Primary School:
Elizabeth Proctor | ADA Pollinator Garden
Granted $1,500 to install ADA compliable aluminum raised beds to grow hosting plants for pollinator larvae as part of the schoolwide STEM program.

Tishcia Boring | The Sensory Communication Station
Granted $1,496.76 to give all teachers in the school building the option to utilize sensory equipment to help their students focus, learn, and decrease behaviors that impede learning in a fun and innovative way.

Melissa Dunagan | Outside Guinea Pig Habitat
Granted $1,490 to build an outside habitat for the class guinea pigs as part of their STEM Engineering Design Project.

---

• Categories:
• Grants

• Tags:
• Bright Ideas
• classroom grant
• bright ideas grants
• teachers
• students
• 2024
• innovation

---