MOULTRIE, Ga. — Colquitt Electric Membership Corporation recently awarded two Colquitt County teachers with Bright Ideas education grants.

Jessica Webb of R.B. Wright Elementary and Justin McDowell of Hamilton Elementary were among winning teachers from across Colquitt EMC’s coverage area. On Tuesday, they were surprised in their classrooms and presented with a big check courtesy of the “Bright Ideas Prize Team” – representatives from Colquitt EMC.

“Teachers often have innovative ideas about how learning can be made more exciting and interesting for their students but do not always have the resources to implement these projects,” Colquitt EMC said in a press release. “The purpose of the Bright Ideas education grant is to provide funding for those teachers to put their creative plans in action.”

Earlier this year the cooperative invited teachers to submit grant proposals up to $1,000 each for creative lesson plans. Grants totaling $9,600 will be awarded within Colquitt EMC’s service area.

Webb proposed to participate in “Tech-Knowledgy” From the Start, a project that provides KIBO robot kits for students in kindergarten and first grade. The robots are designed for open-ended play where students create a series of instructions to tell the robot what to do. They can help young learners become computer programmers and coders, according to a statement that accompanied the press release.

McDowell proposed a Hamilton Elementary daily news and weather report, allowing students to produce, edit and build a daily newscast. To make weather predictions, the students will learn to use a weather station and a time-lapse camera, the Colquitt EMC statement said.

Funding for the grants is made possible through Georgia legislation that allows unclaimed capital credits to be used for education in the communities served by EMCs. Colquitt EMC is a member-owned cooperative that provides electricity to over 44,200 members with 66,500 meters in Berrien, Brooks, Colquitt, Cook, Lowndes, Tift and Worth counties.