York Electric Cooperative is always working to empower area teachers.
One of the ways it does that is through it’s Bright Ideas Program that funds York County teachers to implement a creative idea in their classrooms.
A panel of judges with York Electric Co-Op presented this year’s Bright Ideas grant winners.
There were 4 winners and three runner-ups for their unique ideas.
Some teachers are creating green houses, addressing social inequalities and building a NASA mission control center.
CN2 got to visit Elizabeth Parra, a family and consumer science teacher at Banks Trail Middle School in Fort Mill.
She was granted $740 to purchase dehydrators and air fryers to teach her students how to cook in different ways.
The students will see how long it takes to cook a certain food, how much it costs and what it tastes like.
By the end, the student will learn which product works best.
Parra hopes her project teaches her children patience, encourages them to eat healthy and gives them the opportunity to try something new they may not be able to do at home.
“For them to see how it cooks and then try it, it gives them a vision of something they had not seen before,” Parra said. “Like, I have some students who don’t even get to be in kitchens, so them for them see like, let’s say an apple as a whole red apple and then we slice it up and stick in a dehydrator or an air fryer, for it to come out a completely different way, it just blows their mind.”
This is the second year of YEC’s Bright Ideas Program. It’s funded in part by YEC and YEC’s Operation Round Up Trust.
$7,000 was distributed among the 7 winners.
One winner is awarded in each of the local school districts including York, Clover, Rock Hill, Fort Mill and Lancaster.
