Flint Energies and its philanthropic arm, the Flint Energies Foundation awarded a total of $20,000 to teachers for creative and innovative lesson plans in the ninth year of the co-op’s Bright Ideas program.

Winning teachers were surprised in their classrooms by the Bright Ideas Prize Brigade representatives from Flint Energies with flowers, balloons, gift bags and “big” checks on October 28 and 30 and November 5.  The Bright Ideas program distributes grants of up to $1,000 for teachers to implement creative, innovative projects or lessons with students.  The grants are not available for professional development or SmartBoard or iPad requests.

This year $20,000 in Bright Ideas grants were given to 24 winning teachers and their team members at schools in Houston, Crawford, Macon, Marion, Peach, Taylor and Bibb counties.

Manager of Public Relations, Marian McLemore, stated, “Bright Ideas is the cornerstone to Flint’s commitment to education.  It is our Foundation’s way of rewarding those teachers who are looking for ways to inspire their students beyond the pages of their textbooks.  Budget cuts have hindered many class projects.  With Bright Ideas, Flint is able to fund innovative and creative lesson plans and bring them to life.  That in turn gets students passionate about learning.”

Earlier this year, Flint Energies and the Foundation invited teachers who teach grades K-12 at public or private schools located in the co-op’s service territory to apply for the grants.  Flint Energies service area encompasses parts of Bibb, Chattahoochee, Crawford, Dooly, Harris, Houston, Macon, Marion, Monroe, Muscogee, Peach, Schley, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, Twiggs and Upson counties.  In September, the Cooperative received 43 grant applications, totaling nearly $38,000 from teachers.  A panel of retired educators served as judges and reviewed the applications.  The top scoring lesson plan ideas were funded.

2014 Bright Ideas grant winners:

· Amanda Richards, Lift Every Voice, Taylor County Upper Elementary, Butler, $1,000.00

· James Judson, Raised Bed Gardens, Feagin Mill Middle, Warner Robins, $1,000.00

· Leslie Hobbs, Visual Perceptual, Macon County Elementary, Oglethorpe, $995.95

· Philip Peavy, Robotics, Tattnall Square Academy, Macon, $629.90

· Deanna Davis, Photos Tell A Story, Taylor County Primary, Butler, $949.82

· Bergen Poole, Legos & Learning, Taylor County Primary, Butler, $767.85

· Michael Marler, What Do You Mean There’s Art in Math Class?, Crawford County High, Roberta, $991.06

· Becky Rodgers, Focus In For Mastery, LK Moss Elementary, Buena Vista, $995.64

· John Hagin, Let’s Get Growing, Marion County Middle High, Buena Vista, $755.00

· Angela Foster, Hooray! Hooray! It’s Book Club Day!, Eagle Springs Elementary, Byron, $1,000.00

· June Brantley, Music Basics, Westside Christian Academy, Warner Robins, $669.72

· Jessica Green, Cool Coders, Thomson Middle, Centerville, $1,000.00

· Lisa Brewer, Super Science Fun!, Quail Run Elementary, Warner Robins, $580.92

· Leshon Ferguson, Buoyant Vehicles, Thomson Middle, Centerville, $990.00

· Brenda Sapp, Future Forecasters, Taylor County Upper Elementary, Butler, $760.93

· Rose Kimball, Reaching for Rockets, Westside Christian Academy, Warner Robins, $433.08

· Nicole Cox, Monumental Menus and Decimals, Matt Arthur Elementary, Kathleen, $296.77

· Mary Coffee, To Stemfinity & Beyond, Eagle Springs Elementary, Byron, $999.96

· Terra McMillan, Inquiry Investigations, Thomson Middle, Centerville, $938.40

· Anna Williams, Fun With Science, Byron Middle School, Byron, $500.00

· Richard Gonzalez, A Wolf At The Walker?, Matt Arthur Elementary, Kathleen, $1,000.00

· Samantha Brown, Reading Intervention, Eagle Springs Elementary, Byron, $995.00

· Ashley Green, Early Engineers At Work, Shirley Hills Elementary, Warner Robins, $1,000.00

· Lauren Johnson, Fabrications With Transformations, Crawford County High School, Roberta, $750.00

Phylliss Grane, a teacher at Thomson Middle School in Centerville, won the online application drawing by submitting her Bright Ideas grant application on Flint’s website.  She received a $250 Staples gift card to purchase supplies for her classroom.

Teresa Davis, a teacher at Taylor County Upper Elementary School in Butler, won a digital camera for her classroom in the early bird drawing.

Flint Energies began its Bright Ideas program in 2006 and has awarded nearly $115,000 in grant money to teachers for 135 projects teaching more than 4,050 students in Middle Georgia.