Special to the News
Diving deeper into rotational inertia and experimenting with thermal expansion activities are just two of the many opportunities offered to area students through projects funded by Central Alabama Electric Cooperative’s Bright Ideas Grant Program in 2024.
The Bright Ideas Grant Program was introduced more than 20 years ago with a goal of supporting innovative, interesting and effective initiatives that school funding does not usually cover. Grants help enhance teachers’ efforts and are awarded to individuals or teams in public, private and home schools within CAEC’s service area, including Jacques Mitchell and Mary White of Central High School Coosa County.
Applications were reviewed by a panel of judges from local community associations. They awarded $24,000 in grants to 24 projects across 21 different schools, benefiting almost 7,000 students within five counties in CAEC’s service area.
“I cannot express how truly thankful we are to have such dedicated individuals instructing and influencing the future leaders and workforce of our communities,” said CAEC President and CEO Tom Stackhouse. “We are honored to provide assistance to our educators who work persistently to impact all students by providing them the tools they need to be successful, as well as instilling in them the desire for a lifetime of learning. You all are heroes, and we are incredibly thankful to be able to award these funds to you.”
To date, CAEC has awarded $376,000 to local schools through the program, benefiting more than 130,000 students across all grade levels and content areas. The application process for 2025 Bright Ideas Grants will begin this September.
