Snapping Shoals Awards Grants to Teachers

Snapping Shoals Awards $18,000 in Grants to NCSS Teachers
Posted on 10/25/2018
Snapping Shoals Grants RecipientsSnapping Shoals EMC recently awarded $18,000 in grants to Newton County School System teachers through the co-op’s Bright Ideas program. The grants, which are allocated from unclaimed capital credit funds, are designed to help teachers who wish to extend educational opportunities and activities for students by developing student interests and abilities.

According to Mr. Chris Wood, Snapping Shoals EMC vice-president of external affairs, the grants are provided through unclaimed capital credits.

“Snapping Shoals EMC is a non-profit and these funds are accumulated through the dollars we have left over after our operating costs are paid for,” said Wood. “We give these back to our members as capital credits every year. There are a lot of members who move off our system and although we try our best to reach out to everyone, sometimes we don’t have forwarding addresses. When that happens, we have unclaimed dollars that accumulate. We are fortunate enough to be able to hold onto these dollars now because prior to 2005 we were required to turn those funds over to the state and they could use them however they wanted to.”

According to Wood, Snapping Shoals EMC uses the funds to give back to the local community in various ways, such as the Bright Ideas grants for local teachers. Snapping Shoals also supports economic development, education, and other local non-profit agencies.

“We had many wonderful projects submitted this year,” said Newton County School System grants coordinator, Tiffany Merriweather. “It made it very difficult for the judges to narrow down the selections.”

This year’s grant recipients include:

• Mindy Alexander, Newton County Theme School: “Graphing Calculator Project.” Through the purchase of graphing calculators, students will analyze mathematical concepts such as functions in a way that promotes discovery learning.

• Gregory Brown, West Newton Elementary School: “Virtual Reality: Bring the World to My Classroom.” Students will use virtual reality goggles to experience force, electricity, and magnetism, offering virtual means to travel inside volcanos, tornadoes, hurricanes, and with electrical currents.

• Jennifer Camba, Newton College & Career Academy: “Using Vernier Sensors to Enhance Learning.” Through the purchase of Vernier Dynamic Cart and Track Systems, students will design a variety of experiments such as cart collisions to test for the conservation of momentum and energy.”

• Jennifer Cole, Fairview Elementary School: “Lunch Bunch Book Club.” Students will have access to a variety of genres on their reading level to read at home and discuss during lunch with their peers.

• Datha Curtis, Newton College & Career Academy: “Breaking Barriers to learning with Breakout EDU.” Through the purchase of Breakout EDU, students will have access to a variety of content-aligned games designed to enhance inquiry-based, collaborative learning.

• Stephanie Dorminey & Vicki Meeler, Indian Creek Middle School: “Engineering Enhanced Experiences/Residence, Retail, & Recreation.” Seventh and eighth grade STEM students will build and design a model nature center and mid-income neighborhood based on local community needs. Both will include transportation, power and water systems, communication, safety control, and green spaces.

• Jamez Dudley, Liberty Middle School: “Knights in Lights/James and the Giant Peach.” Students enjoy learning when combined with singing, choreography, and dramatic play. Funds will be used to purchase performance materials and equipment for a new show choir program and James and the Giant Peach musical.

• Sabrina Grant, Nafeesah Muhammad, and Chabrinee Walker, Porterdale Elementary School: “Tiles for Collaboration in Mathematics.” K-5th grade students will use math tiles to increase their understanding of the four basic math operations in a way that is closely aligned with Georgia Standards for Mathematical Practice.

• Cecily Gunter, Newton College & Career Academy: “First Aid Certifications for Animals.” Students in animal and vet science fields benefit from hands-on experiences. Funds will be used to purchase training materials for student practice and certification needed to administer first aid and CPR to small animals.

• Heather Hodge, Middle Ridge Elementary School: “Waterpark Collaboration.” Students will use what they learn about volume to collaboratively design waterpark floor plans and create 3-D models using a 3-D printer.

• Felicia Wright Hodges, Liberty Middle School: “Grow Knights.” Students will use the schoolyard as a classroom by establishing a school garden to learn agricultural concepts and FCCLA Student Body program objectives.

• Amanda Kirkham, Newton County Theme School: “I’m a Student Book Author & Illustrator!” Students will extend their understanding of the writing process by beginning with an idea and following it through to a published piece. Funds will be used to offset the cost of hardcover books for keepsakes.

• Angela Page, South Salem Elementary School: “Follow Me, Like This Page and Subscribe—It’s All About STEAM.” STEAM students use engineering design process to design and present inventions and projects. Funds will be used to incorporate technology into their presentations using a video camera, microphone, tripod, and green screen.

• Kemily Pattillo, Newton College & Career Academy: “Probing into Science: Using Vernier Sensors to Enhance Learning.” Funds will be used to purchase a radiation monitor, radioactive source kit, and pressure sensors needed for demonstrations and experiments in an interactive classroom.

• Catrina Pollard, Eastside High School: “Getting Dirty for 2030.” Students in agriculture and horticulture classes will build and maintain a grow tower, hydroponics unit, and mobile vertical garden to grow crops in innovative ways and share with others.

• Marcus Pollard, Newton College & Career Academy: “Drone Deploy-Photosynthetic Photography.” Students will track plant growth and development of production fields by using Dronedeploy software to set autonomous flights and capture industry-grade photography.

• Kacie Priebe, Alcovy High School: “Sharpening Employability Skills.” Students in Agriculture classes will learn safety skills needed to sharpen and use grooming blades, allowing them to care for animals, prepare for livestock shows, obtain certification, and share their skills with others.

• Alexandra Quinones, South Salem Elementary School: “Changing Before Our Eyes.” Second grade students will use butterfly kits and frog kits to understand diverse life cycles and report their observations using journals, models, and diagrams.

• Katie Sauls, Newton County Theme School: “Cooking in the Classroom.” Kindergarten through eighth grade students will use a mobile kitchen cart, recipes, and school garden to learn by integrating “farm to table” concepts and cooking into the content areas.

• Linda Scovanner, Oak Hill Elementary School: “Student-Leveled Powered Learning.” Students will use Power Pens to select quiz responses on flashcard sets. They will receive instant feedback to develop independent reading and math thinking in a Daily 5 classroom.

• Carol Styron, West Newton Elementary School: “Performance Station.” Fourth and fifth grade music students will increase their music proficiency using a performance station equipped with an acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric bass, drum set, electric keyboard, and microphone.

• Stephanie Thomas, South Salem Elementary School: “Breaking the Mold of Traditional Learning.” Through the purchase of Breakout EDU, students will improve their critical-thinking skills while working collaboratively to solve multi-step math problems and challenges in literary stories.

• Amy Weaver & Jennifer Cole, Fairview Elementary School: “Discovering Art in Georgia as a Career.” Students will study our state’s art history through George White, a children’s book author and illustrator who will provide oral presentations, art lessons, and share his contributions.

Snapping Shoals Electric Membership Corporation is a consumer-owned electric cooperative providing electric service to approximately 95,000 homes and businesses in an eight-county area. Most of the utility’s service area is in Newton, Rockdale and Henry counties. Portions of DeKalb, Butts, Walton, Morgan and Jasper counties are also included. The company’s headquarters is on Brown Bridge Road in Newton County.

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