Teachers across Fayette County were surprised with gift baskets, balloons and Bright Idea checks ranging from $357 to $1500 in late October when representatives from Coweta-Fayette EMC and Operation Round Up showed up at schools to announce this year’s winners. The Trust Board awarded $22,849 in Bright Idea grants to 20 deserving classrooms throughout the EMC’s service area leaving excited teachers at every school they visited.

Michael Whiteside, president and CEO of the EMC stated “Bright Ideas has been a tremendously successful program that allows all of our teachers to enhance their educational opportunities in the classroom and we are proud to have been able to fund $45,675.35 in grants over the past two years.”

Earlier this year, the Trust invited teachers in grades K-12 to submit proposals for innovative classroom projects. In September, 107 grant applications from three counties were received requesting money for their special projects. A group of retired teachers from Coweta, Fayette and Heard counties rated the requests according to need, the level of creativity in the learning experience and student involvement.

Winners in Fayette County were Diane Calsbeek, Landmark Christian, $1500 for “Lungs for Life”; Amy Collins, JoAnn Rouse and Jamie Delameter, Rising Star Middle, $1500 for “Watching Georgia Grow”; Melissa Raymer, Whitewater Middle, $1,019 for “Time for School”; Jane Hannon, Hood Avenue Primary, $1500 for “Books + Books = Math”; Adele Moore, Huddleston Elementary, $1244 for “Bridges – Connecting Science and Art”; Tina Patrick, Robert J. Burch Elementary, $1500 for “Mommy’s Reading Helper”; Susan Duke, Brooks Elementary, $630 for “Hot Rod Readers through Reading Rods”; Barbara Strome, Braelinn Elementary, $357 for “Making Healthy Choices”; Chris Hinson, The Bedford School, $1500 for “Bedford’s Bright Butterfly Garden” and Laura Hoeve, Whitewater Middle, $1377.24 for “The Weather Trends to Be…”.

The Bright Ideas program is sponsored by the Coweta-Fayette EMC Operation Round Up Trust from funds raised by EMC members that allow their bills to be rounded up to the nearest dollar each month. This is the second year this program has been offered to teachers and will be available once again for the 2007-2008 school year, so teachers need to begin now working on plans for their applications.

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