Here’s Jessica Hoffmire with Uwharrie Charter Academy Elementary School students showing the grant certificate from the Randolph Electric Membership Corporation. (REMC photo)
ASHEBORO — Five educators in schools in Randolph County are recipients of grants through the Randolph Electric Membership Corporation.
Bright Ideas grants support classroom projects in the subjects of agriculture, science, art, music and more in local schools throughout REMC’s service territory.
“We commend these educators for striving to make learning fun and engaging,” said Nicole Arnold, REMC’s communications and public affairs manager.
The grants associated with schools in Randolph County went to:
** Kristen Toscano of South Asheboro Middle School for $450 for a SAMS Comet Café Cart. One goal of the project is to provide students with essential life skills, including responsibility, teamwork and customer service. A second goal is to improve students’ skills in communication, math and daily living through real world applications.
** Cassandra Salabak of Guy B. Teachey Elementary School in Asheboro for $1,200 for low-tech coding and creative engineering. This project will teach students how to code at a young age and will improve their persistence, resilience, logical reasoning and problem solving.
** Yuliya Skeen of Farmer Elementary School for $600 for her project, Introducing Young Minds to 3D Printing. She will demonstrate how science and math work together to produce amazing creations with this engineering tool.
** Jessica Hoffmire of Uwharrie Charter Academy Elementary School for $1,215 for her project, STEAMing it up in the Kitchen. The focus of the project is to provide students with culinary engineering experiences.
** Melissa Brown of New Market Elementary for $1,000 to construct an outdoor learning environment. In a sensory-calming garden, students can de-escalate from over-stimulation and can focus on sensory-seeking tasks if experiencing hyposensitivity.
During this cycle, REMC administered the awarding of 16 total grants, with others in Chatham County, Montgomery County and Moore County.
The application process will reopen for interested teachers in April 2025. Bright Ideas grant applications are collected through mid-September.
