40 teachers, teams win Bright Ideas grants

Thomas Heyward Academy teacher, Linda Stanley, was surprised with balloons, a gift bag and a Bright Ideas check for $1,000.

	Linda Stanley, a teacher at Thomas Heyward Academy, received a grant for her project “Get Smart with Art.”

Stanley’s project titled Get Smart with Art, will allow the teachers to integrate art into the core curriculum and allow various subjects to go beyond the printed text.

It was a scene repeated, with variations, over the course of two days in October as representatives from Palmetto Electric Cooperative and Palmetto Electric Trust awarded $32,585 in Bright Ideas grants to 40 winning teachers and their team members at schools in Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper counties.

Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations, Jimmy Baker, stated “Bright Ideas exemplifies Palmetto Electric’s commitment to community by supporting education and innovative classroom projects with the money going right where it’s needed — in the classroom.”

The money was presented by representatives from the Cooperative. Winners were greeted with balloons, gift bags, and a BIG check, as well as the real check at each school. They also invited winners to a luncheon in November at the Cooperative's New River facility to honor the teachers and their administrators.

	Colleen Skibo from Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts will use her grant to make her Smart Board smarter. An Airliner will allow students to interact from their desks, classroom carpet, individually or cooperative work groups.

Earlier this year, the Cooperative and the Trust invited teachers in grades K-12 to submit proposals for innovative classroom projects, on any subject, for the Bright Ideas project. In September, the Cooperative received 68 grant applications, totaling more than $60,810 from teachers in the Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton counties.

Winners all around

• Matthew Hunt, Light Up Their Lives, Okatie Elementary, $1,000
• Amie Sweet, Kids on the Run, Okatie Elementary, $825
• Betsy Ilderton, LabRates Science Exploratorium, Cross Episcopal School, $600
• Diane Prescott, Vermacomposting: It's a Worm Thing, May River Montessori, $570
• Deborah Urato, Rainforest Conservatory, May River Montessori, $800
• Sherri Westby, Let It Be, M.C. Riley Elementary, $500
• Colleen Skibo, A Smarter Smartboard, HHI School for the Creative Arts, $500
• Cory Tressler, "Here's Looking At You", HHI School for the Creative Arts, $900
• Colleen Wynn, The Physics Festival, HHI IB Elementary, $730
• Emily McCarter, MAPS & BAGS, HH Christian Academy, $875
• Dr. Sarah Baird, Survivor: Energy Island, a study of renewable energy sources, Sea Pines Montessori, $765
• Maelda Chalk, "Let's Play Spanish Jeopardy", Hilton Head Prep, $500
• Peg Hamilton, "Back to the Hundred-Acre Wood, Hilton Head Prep, $500
• Jayne Matney, A Leg-Up into Legos!, Hilton Head Prep, $1000
• Jenny Lu, MULAN!, Hilton Head Prep, $980

• Russell Demers, Take a Teacher Home DVD Program, Fennell Elementary, $640
• Michelle Hiers, Just Right Books for My Just Right Readers, Varnville Elementary, $830
• Anita Padgett, Listen Up, Varnville Elementary, $1000
• Tracey Preston, "Spotlight Reading", Varnville Elementary, $1000
• Peggy Smith, Our South Carolina Culture, Varnville Elementary, $1000
• Sally Williams, "It's a guy thing!", Varnville Elementary, $800
• Donna Griner, Scrapbook Learning, North District Middle, $1000
• Carole McGrath, Scribblers of Dreams, Wade Hampton High, $800
• Veronica Rea, F.B.I. - First Bot Innovators, Wade Hampton High, $1000
• Robert Hanna, S.M.A.R.T. (Students Moving Along the Right Track), Ben Hazel, $720
• Julie Huber, PRESS (Paired Reading Enhancing Science Standards), Ben Hazel, $1000
• Angela Hutto, Being Sick Doesn't Get Me Down, Ben Hazel, $850
• Blythe Delgado, Making M.E.A.T. (Math Easy and Terrific), Ben Hazel, $1000
• Brandy Peeples, "Add"itional Reading, Ben Hazel, $1000
• Diane Stanley, Buddy Back Packs, Ben Hazel, $680
• Trevor Foster, Looking at Life Project, Patrick Henry, $635
• Egeria Bostick, Character Road Show, Estill Elementary, $1000

• Deborah Duncan, Using Technology to Improve On-task Performances with Learning, Beaufort-Jasper ACE, $650
• Steve Shamblen, High Stakes Test Preparation, Beaufort-Jasper ACE, $1000
• Elizabeth Brooks, The Big Easy, Ridgeland Elementary, $1000
• Shirley Peeples, "It's a Zoo in Here!", Ridgeland Elementary, $500
• Paula Allen, "Printmaking Master Class", Ridgeland Junior High School, $800
• Jane Ryans, LITE UP, Ridgeland Junior High School, $1000
• Linda Stanley, "Get Smart with Art", Thomas Heyward Academy, $1000
• Sue Ward, M. at H. - Math at Home Lending Library, Thomas Heyward Academy, $635