North Shelby School teacher Sara Grant was awarded a Bright Ideas grant for $591 from REMC director Kenneth McDaniel for her project, "Interactive Drumming for Math."

Rutherford Electric Membership Corporation has awarded 21 teachers with more than $15,900 in Bright Ideas education grants to fund innovative classroom learning projects. More than 3,900 students at schools in Burke, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, McDowell, Polk and Rutherford counties will participate in Bright Ideas projects funded by Rutherford EMC this year.
"The Bright Ideas grant program helps teachers finance creative projects to benefit North Carolina's youth," said Dirk Burleson, vice president of member and corporate services for Rutherford EMC. "Teachers have so many great ideas, and we're pleased to help these grant winners bring their ideas to life in the classroom."
Three grants have been awarded to Cleveland County teachers Beverly Owens of Kings Mountain Middle, Sara Grant of North Shelby School, and Rhonda F. Hamrick of Boiling Springs Elementary. Owens received $1,000 for her project, "Engineering a Better Future." Grant was awarded $591 for her "Interactive Drumming for Math" project. Hamrick and team members Tina Thomas and Brooke McCraw received $500 for their project, "Boiling Springs Parent Resource Center."
"Rutherford EMC is committed to bettering the communities we serve, and we believe there is no better way than through the education of our youth," Burleson said.
During the month of November, North Carolina's Touchstone Energy cooperatives awarded teachers statewide close to $600,000 in Bright Ideas Education grants.
Since the Bright Ideas grant program began in 1994, Rutherford EMC has contributed more than $341,500 to local teachers. North Carolina's 26 electric cooperatives collectively have awarded more than $9.6 million to teachers across the state. The Bright Ideas program has reached well over 1.8 million North Carolina students and sponsored 9,200 projects in all subjects including math, reading, science and technology, history, music and the arts.
Bright Ideas grant applications are collected each year through mid-September, and winning proposals are selected in a competitive evaluation process by a panel of judges. The application process will reopen for interested teachers in April 2016.
To find out more information about the Bright Ideas grant program, visit www.remc.com or the Bright Ideas website at www.ncbrightideas.com. Become a fan of "Bright Ideas Education" on Facebook to receive regularly updated news about the program.
Rutherford EMC, headquartered in Forest City, N.C., is a rural electric cooperative that maintains over 7,200 miles of power lines to provide electricity to over 68,500 member-consumers in a 10-county area of the southwestern Piedmont. North Carolina's Touchstone Energy cooperatives serve 2.5 million people in 93 of the state's 100 counties.
Submitted by Denise Gavin