District Five classrooms will soon benefit from grants provided by the Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative (MCEC). The Cooperative’s annual Bright Ideas program grants provide funding to teachers who have demonstrated innovative ideas for classroom projects. School District Five received $7,942 in grants.
School District Five grant recipients include: Kylie Cathcart (The Center), Sherry Clapp (The Center), Paul Duggan (Seven Oaks Elementary), Ashley Evans (Irmo High), Ashley Gross (H. E. Corley Elementary), Wendy Price (Ballentine Elementary), Catina Thomas (Irmo High), and Kayla Williams (Harbison West Elementary)
Teachers receiving this year’s grants were surprised by the Bright Ideas Grant Patrol, who traveled to their schools to bring their awards. Seven Oaks Elementary Global Magnet School will use their $1,000 grant money to create the IB Young Innovators in Biomedical Engineering experience. This project combines biomedical engineering, 3D printing, prosthetic design, and IB inquiry-based learning to provide elementary students with authentic career-connected STEM experiences rarely available at the fifth-grade level. Students will collaborate with biomedical interns from the Center for Advanced Technical Studies and occupational therapy professionals from Prisma Health while learning Tinkercad and engineering design processes. By engaging low socioeconomic students in real-world medical problem-solving, this project creates early exposure to high-demand healthcare and engineering careers, promotes innovation, and builds confidence through hands-on, student-centered learning.
“I am so thankful to have received the Bright Ideas Grant,” Dr. Paul Duggan said. “Thank you for enhancing our students’ learning and making their designs a reality. Our students will now be able to use the 3D printer to create their prosthetic designs on Tinkercad.”
The Center for Advanced Technical Studies received a check for $1,000 to support Kylie Cathcart’s Chicken in the Hen House. Students will design and build a hen house that can house 30 or more chickens. Once the coop is built students will care for and manage the flock, collect eggs, and clean, package, market, and sell the product to teachers or community members.
“I am so excited to use the grant money to purchase supplies to build a new chicken coop,” Kylie Cathcart said. “This project will allow all of the students in the agriculture program to gain hands on experience in managing a poultry enterprise and learn the full process of egg production from start to finish.”
The Center instructor Sherry Clapp also received a grant to help students design, build, assemble, document, and fly drones.
“We are deeply grateful to Mid-Electric Cooperative for supporting our students with a $1,000 Bright Ideas Grant,” Sherry Clapp said. “This funding empowers our new Drone Design class to move beyond theory and into real-world innovation. Student teams will learn component mechanics, 3D-model parts using CAD, and assemble fully functional drones designed for flying simulated disaster response and humanitarian aid missions. This grant directly purchases the hardware and materials that make this unique, career-focused technical training possible.”
Bright Ideas is open to educators in kindergarten through 12th grades in Lexington County School Districts One, Two, Three and Five, and in the Saluda County School District. Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative gave more than $20,000 in grants to teachers this year.
