REMC Awards $14,000 for Bright Ideas Education Grants
Education
bright
ideas
grants
community
outreach

Local Teachers Honored for Innovative Ideas in Education

Randolph Electric Membership Corporation recently honored educators by awarding $14,000 in Bright Ideas grants to fifteen local teachers. More than 1,600 students at schools in Randolph, Moore, Montgomery and Chatham Counties will benefit from these grants. The grant funds will support classroom projects in the subjects of science, art, physical education and more.

At Randolph EMC, we're committed to our core value of caring for our communities. One of the ways we accomplish that is by continually investing in education across our five-county service area through Bright Ideas,” said Public Relations Manager, Christian Morgan .“We commend these teachers for striving to make learning fun, innovative and engaging for students.”

Randolph EMC is one of 26 electric cooperatives in North Carolina offering Bright Ideas grants to local teachers. Grants are awarded for projects in all subject areas, such as music, art, history, reading, science, math and more. Bright Ideas grants support local teachers with creative ideas to increase innovation, expand learning opportunities and enhance student success in K–12 classrooms.

For 30 years, North Carolina’s electric cooperatives collectively have awarded more than $14 million in Bright Ideas funding for over 13,500 projects supporting teachers and benefiting more than 2.5 million students. Since 1994, Randolph Electric has invested over $350,000 in grants.

The Bright Ideas grant program is part of REMC’s ongoing commitment to building a brighter future through support of education. REMC accepts Bright Ideas grant applications each year from April through mid-September. The application process will reopen for interested teachers in April 2026.

Below are a list of all winners.

Randolph County

  • Theresa Lynch of Uwharrie Charter Middle School won $2,000 for their Osobots for Vocabulary Enrichment project. This project is a hands-on project designed to introduce 6th-grade students to the fundamentals of
    coding and robotics through the use of Osobots to enrich vocabulary learning.
  • Deborah Wainwright of Southwestern Randolph Middle School won $375 for their SWRM Stream Keepers project. This project aims to identify and collect data on the main sources, types, and consequences of freshwater pollution.
  • Kelsey Overton of Farmer Elementary won $1,118 for their project Merge Cube. This project engages students in exploring interactive 3D models that connect to both fiction and nonfiction texts, helping them deepen their understanding of story settings, character traits, and informational content.
  • Crystal Simpson of Farmer Elementary won $1,033 for a science lab project. This project aims to enhance science education at the elementary level by providing essential materials and equipment to support a hands-on, inquiry-based science lab.
  • Brian Smith of Faith Christian won $280 for their project Flowing Forward. In this project, students will read A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park while exploring engineering solutions that make contaminated water safe to drink. As part of their learning, students will design and build a simple water filtration system.
  • Lori-Beth Russell of Uwharrie Charter High School won $1,000 for their project Threads of Tomorrow. This project will fund a new sewing program. The class will be designed to give students a hands-on learning experience that blends creativity, problem-solving, and practical life skills.

Moore County

  • Luke Arno of West Pine Elementary School won $1,330 for their project Harmony in Hands. This project will fund a set of Malmark Choir Chimes for the elementary music program. The instruments will offer students a hands-on, accessible way to explore melody, harmony, and musical collaboration.

Montgomery County

  • Nora Beasley of West Middle in Mount Gilead won $900 for their projects, Wolverine Weather Watchers and Where History Meets Engineering. The Wolverine Weather Watchers project will turn the classroom into a hands-on science lab where students will work with professional grade instruments to study real-time weather data, teaching them about weather patterns, the atmosphere and our climate. Where History Meets Engineering will help purchase a STEM Model kit of the Titanic to enhance student learning about the history of the Titanic through hands-on interdisciplinary learning, combining history, literacy, and engineering.
  • Elizabeth Divine of Montgomery Learning Academy in Troy won $500 for their project, Building Bright Futures. This project teaches students delayed gratification, budgeting, and the concept of saving for the future, helping them understand the value of long-term planning and decision-making.
  • Christy McIntyre of West Middle in Mount Gilead won $400 to introduce sixth-graders to the power of solar energy through their project Solar-Powered Wolverines: Charging Up Young Minds. This hands-on initiative will allow students to explore solar energy, develop problem solving and teamwork skills, and learn how engineering and renewable energy work in real life, through the purchase of solar-powered robots.
  • Cody Williams of West Middle in Mount Gilead won $291 for their project called A Journey of Transformation that will increase sixth-grade students’ comprehension of life cycle and metamorphosis of butterflies by raising real-life caterpillars in the classroom. This will link the butterfly life cycle  to the book Summer of the Mariposas.
  • Natalie Smith of West Middle in Mount Gilead won $352 for a project, Exploring Food Chemistry through Chocolate. The goal of this project is to combine hands-on science with high-interest reading to help give students a real life connection between what they learn and the real world. Students will explore basic chemistry concepts like melting, dissolving, and crystallization. 
  • Ruby Parsons of Montgomery Learning Academy won $1,300 for their project Learning Beyond Limits. This project is designed to transform student learning by integrating immersive Virtual and Extended Reality (VXR) technologies into the classroom. 

Chatham County

  • Dr.Carla Neal of Bennet School won $2,000 for her project Building the Bennett School Band, developed in collaboration with Music Director Miss M. These funds will be used to purchase additional instruments for the school, allowing more students to participate in band without creating a financial burden for their families.

If you know an exceptional educator who may benefit from this program, please encourage him or her to apply for the 2026 grant cycle. The application process will reopen for interested teachers in April 2026. Bright Ideas grant applications are collected each year through mid-September, and winners are announced between Thanksgiving and the end of first semester.

More information about the Bright Ideas grant program can be found on RandolphEMC.com or by contacting Christian Morgan at Christian.Morgan@randolphemc.com.