Dr. Janet Roberts, left, a music specialist with Ballentine Elementary School, accepts an $800 Bright Ideas grant from Jan Bonnette of Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative. Roberts' project was among the 16 winning Bright Ideas entries from local educators that earned a total of $13,000 in grants from the co-op. Roberts' entry, "Light Up Social Studies With a Song," is designed to increase student achievement in social studies and music in grades 3-5 by using Smithsonian's Collection of American music in their lessons.

Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative's Prize Patrol presents a Bright Ideas grant award to Gilbert Primary School teacher Jenni Smith, third from left in back row. Smith's project, "You Ought to Be in Pictures!" was among the 16 winning Bright Ideas entries from local educators that earned a total of $13,000 in grants from the co-op. Smith received $590 for her project, which will help students use digital photography to capture parts of their world. The students will use their photos in a writer's workshop to illustrate writings for PowerPoint projects, books, e-books and more, Smith says. With Smith are student/teacher Haylee Gardner, right in back row, and Prize Patrol members Shirley Adkins, left, and Jan Bonnette of Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative.

Renee Padgett, an instructor at Gilbert Primary School accepts Bright Ideas grant for $453 from Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative. Padgett's project, "Learning By Touch," was among the 16 winning Bright Ideas entries from local educators that earned a total of $13,000 in grants from the co-op. With the grant, students in Padgett's 5K Special Needs class, who are not able to use computers because they do not have the ability to control the mouse, will be able to use the Magic Touch Add-On Touch Screen to touch the screen and make things happen.

Katherine Curry, left, a teacher at White Knoll Elementary accepts a Bright Ideas grant award from Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative's Prize Patrol member Eddie Richardson. Curry's project, "Community Building Through Technology," was among the 16 winning Bright Ideas entries from local educators that earned a total of $13,000 in grants from the co-op. Curry received a $350 grant for her project, in which students will master South Carolina Social Studies Standards for Kindergarten through use of digital camera technology.