Out of 77 applicants representing 36 schools, 28 teachers in Coweta and Fayette counties were surprised with gifts and Bright Ideas checks ranging from nearly $200 to $1,500 by Operation Round Up representatives who stopped by local classrooms Oct. 27-28 to announce grant winners.
Coweta-Fayette EMC’s annual Operation Round Up initiative gives educators the opportunity to apply for special project funds not often available in tightly budgeted school systems. Through Bright Ideas 2016, the Coweta-Fayette Trust, Inc., Board of Directors awarded almost $30,000 to 12 Coweta/16 Fayette recipients.
Earlier in the year, the board asked K-12 teachers to submit proposals for innovative classroom projects. Without knowing the names of schools or the educators involved, seven retired teachers from Coweta, Fayette and Heard counties rated requests according to creativity and the potential for student involvement.
This year’s Coweta winners are:
Robin Goad, Arbor Springs Elementary, $1,185 for “Footgolf: Fight Against Obesity”
Dr. Sheila Barnes, Arnall Middle, $1,035 for “Teaching Physical Science Phenomena with Gadgets”
Jessica Pope, Atkinson Elementary, $950 for “Ending Summer-Reading Loss by Building Home Libraries”
Michelle Owens, Brooks Elementary, $550 for “Reaching All Readers”
Kathryn Clark, East Coweta Middle, $1,467 for “Hands on Job Training”
Tammy D. Hyder, East Coweta Middle, $1,500 for “Here Comes the Sun”
Catherine Cathey, Eastside Elementary, $1,100 for “Classroom Garden”
Josette Nase, Moreland Elementary, $1,480 for “Make It Happen with MakerSpaces”
Jane Warner Allen, Poplar Road Elementary, $1,200 for “Tranquility Cabin”
Amanda Foiles, Welch Elementary, $510 for “Robots and Simple Machines”
Paula Marie Corley, White Oak Elementary, $1,500 for “iWrite, iCreate, iLearn”
Valerie Mallon, White Oak Elementary, $1,500 for “Inventing in 3D”
The Bright Ideas program is sponsored by Coweta-Fayette EMC’s Operation Round Up Trust and supported with funds raised by co-op members who allow their bills to be “rounded up” to the nearest dollar each month. This is the 12th year the grant has been available, and it will be offered to educators once again for the 2016-2017 school year. Interested teachers are encouraged to begin working now on plans for their applications (available online at Utility.org in May).
In the above photo, Arbor Springs Elementary School teacher Robin Goad, joined by school principal Dr. Julie Durrance, accepts her Bright Ideas award from program judges Frances Morgan, Helen Camp and Kitty Lambert.
