The Operation Round Up Board of Directors initiated a program offering small, $500 grants to teachers. Grants were available to K-12 teachers in art and science for the 2018-2019 school year. The funds are made available by South Plains Electric Cooperative members contributing to Operation Round Up. Their monthly bill is rounded up to the next dollar, and the extra change, averaging only $6 per year, funds projects like the teacher mini-grants, scholarships and much more.
Ollie Hart is the fourth-grade science and social studies teacher at Abernathy Elementary and is a 2018-2019 Operation Round Up Mini-Grant recipient. Hart purchased two Chromebooks with the mini-grant.
“In the era of digital communication, many students are struggling to communicate their thoughts,” Hart said. “I have seen numerous benefits of allowing my students to verbally capture their scientific explanations. They are able to apply vocabulary we have learned as well as physically show and tell what has happened in their exploration.”
Hart incorporates the Chromebooks for video use in science discoveries. Second, third and fourth grade students created experiments to test the effects of friction, gravity and forces on an object. After recording multiple trials of the experiments, the students then used Flipgrid, an online platform used to create short, authentic videos to demonstrate learning, to create a final presentation over the science project.
“Thank you, South Plains Electric Cooperative, for giving our students the opportunity to use the most up-to-date technology in our classroom,” Hart said. “We are grateful for your dedication to education on the South Plains.”
South Plains Electric Cooperative
The Operation Round Up Board of Directors created a mini-grant program to help teachers with classroom projects or educational field trips. Operation Round Up approved another three-year cycle of teacher mini-grants.
There are 10 mini-grants of $500 each available during the 2019-2020 school year. Entries must be submitted by May 15, 2019. This year’s grant is available to any K-12 math or language arts teacher if any of the following criteria are met:
- the teacher is a member of (receives electric service from) South Plains Electric Cooperative.
- at least one student in the class is a member of and receives electric service at their home or family business from South Plains Electric Cooperative.
Visit https://spec.coop/content/operation-round to learn more.
