EnergyUnited and North Carolina’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives have earmarked at least $500,000 for classroom-based projects through their funding of the Bright Ideas Education Grant Program for next school year. Teachers can learn about the program and apply online at www.ncbrightideas.com. Grants of up to $2,000 are available through EnergyUnited. Teachers who submit their application by August 28 will be entered in a drawing for a $500 Visa gift card.

All North Carolina certified K-12 teachers are eligible for a Bright Ideas grant, the only program exclusively for the state’s classroom educators. “If history is a guide, we’re likely to award a combined total of more than $500,000," said H. Wayne Wilkins, EnergyUnited chief executive officer. Last year, the state’s electric cooperatives gave out $555,480 in Bright Ideas grants, benefiting more than 128,000 students.

Bright Ideas grants finance innovative and creative classroom projects that would otherwise go unfunded. North Carolina’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives have financed a variety of hands-on projects, including activities in music, art, history, language, reading, science, career-planning and information technology.

Since it began in 1994, the Bright Ideas program has awarded more than $5.9 million in grant money to North Carolina's teachers to sponsor 5,500 projects benefiting almost 1 million students.