Shallotte, NC - ATMC recently awarded $35,000 in grant funds to 19 educators and organizations for programs that expand educational opportunities for Brunswick and Columbus County students. The funds were part of the cooperative’s grant program, which has awarded $845,000 in community and education grants to over 500 programs since its inception in 2006.

ATMC’s Board Liaison for the 2021 Grant Committee, Michelle Ingram, commented, “We are thrilled to be able to help fund programs that will allow teachers more opportunities in their classrooms. ATMC believes in the power of education, and we are pleased to be able to help the schools in our community.”

This year’s grant recipients included:

Bolivia Elementary (Melissa Reid and Amber Clifford): With Social Emotional Development students will have flexible seating in the classroom and teachers will have access to new resources on Social Emotional Learning that allows them to better support their students.

Brunswick County Early College High School (Kathrine Weeks and Dr. Dane Fisher): With the Is it Meiosis or Mitosis? Quick, Get the Microscope! program, seven new microscopes for biology and chemistry courses will be installed to allow students more access and time to examine samples.

Cedar Grove Middle School (Justin Hayes): Through Creations with Annotations, Microsoft Surface tablets will be purchased with specialized features that allow students to create annotations with ease, students will also have access to oversized beanbags to read and relax in the school’s media center.

Chadbourn Elementary (Danielle Hinson and Michael Powell): Via Relaxed Reading, elementary students will enjoy new comfortable chairs to read and relax in at the school’s media center.

The COAST (Denise Copeland): With Freshman Academy Flexible Seating, students can choose seating that best fits their learning style.

East Columbus High School (Amy Malpass): Through the Reading in the Swamp program, the school will be able to purchase a Junior Library Guild Subscription that allows the librarian to select reading levels and genres that best serve the population of the school.

Nakina Middle School (Carla Stewart): With An Apple a Day, new Apple Macbooks will be purchased and equipped with features designed to help students with cognitive and learning disabilities get organized, stay focused, and learn in ways that fit their unique capabilities.

North Brunswick High School (Kristi Brown): With this grant, multiple science teachers can use the Marine and Ocean Exploration Supplies to perform marine biology labs and create collaborations across the four courses of environmental science, biology, marine biology, and chemistry to provide unique opportunities for hands-on labs.

Old Dock Elementary (Angela Tyler, Jessica Edge, Georganna Council): With the Manipulating Our Future with Manipulatives program, manipulative kits will be used to enrich lessons by demonstrating abstract concepts with real world objects.

South Brunswick High School (Kim Flood): Via the Sights and Sounds of Nature program, exceptional needs students will have comfortable and adaptable seating that creates accessible accommodations for outdoor learning.

South Brunswick High School (Mario Lawrence): Through the Novels for Earth and Environmental Science program, students will get a copy of "Hey Ranger! True Tales of Humor & Misadventure from America's National Parks" which helps students make connections to real life and explore a career that implements earth and environmental science.

South Brunswick Middle School (Marissa Thomas): In a Virtual Return to Novel Studies program, each student at South Brunswick Middle School will have access to digital novels.

South Columbus High School (Wendy Shoemaker and Christy Fipps-Todd): In It’s Lit! educators at South Columbus High School are able to supplement the study of literature with high-interest reading materials and build a shared classroom library of materials for struggling readers.

Tabor City Elementary (Lisa Lennon): In Read to Succeed, a school-wide incentive program will be established where students will earn coins and use them in a vending machine that distributes books.

Union Elementary (Lauren Ramsey):A Place to Regroup and Reflect will fund a space created within a classroom environment that will offer specialized materials, equipment, and instruction to assist students in practicing self-regulation strategies, designed to better meet the social/emotional/behavioral and sensory needs.

West Brunswick High School (Dr. Lori Rose): The grant will fund an Anatomy in Clay learning system that can help health science students master anatomy curriculum through hands-on learning.

West Brunswick High School (Cathie Poulin): Through Connecting with Electronic Whiteboards, teachers can engage with students in the high school's math department, both in the physical classroom and during remote learning.

Whiteville Primary (Kim Ward): Via the Teaching Garden, students will learn about natural sciences and healthy living through hands-on learning in the garden.

Williams Township School (Cassie Hoffman): Electrochemistry labs will be purchased for Columbus County AIG middle school students to allow exploration of STEM subjects. The hands-on projects encourage creative thinking and allow students to become engineers and 21st century thinkers.

“We know that educators make great sacrifices to keep their students engaged and learning,” said Keith Holden, ATMC Chief Executive Officer. “Through these grants, ATMC hopes to help bring new and innovative ideas, as well as needed supplies, to many of the classrooms in our local area. It is our way of showing our appreciation to the teachers in our community.”

Shallotte, NC - ATMC recently awarded $35,000 in grant funds to 17 educators and organizations for programs that expand educational opportunities for Brunswick and Columbus County students. The funds were part of the cooperative’s grant program, which has awarded $775,000 in community and education grants to 472 programs since its inception in 2006.

ATMC’s Board Liaison for the 2020 Grant Committee, Al Parker, commented, “Through the pandemic and onset of virtual learning this year, we’ve seen just how valuable our teachers are. Being a cooperative, we understand the importance of giving back to the communities in which we live and work and are pleased to be able to help our area schools.”

This year’s grant recipients included:

Belville Elementary (Holly Majewski): Through the STEM-ming With Spheros program, students have access to computer coding and programming materials.

Bolivia Elementary (Elizabeth Schmidt and Emily Tate): With Where Will Reading Take You? students will now be able to utilize guided reading sets to help expand literacy.

Brunswick County Schools District Science Department (Jamie Smith): Through BCS Science Olympiad Invitations, students in middle school and high school will be able to benefit from supplies for science Olympiad teams.

Brunswick County Schools Mental Health Services Department (Meredith Lloyd): With the Youth Mental Health First Aid program, Brunswick County Schools staff will receive training for Mental Health First Aid certifications.

Brunswick County Schools Robotics Department (Keri McKenzie): Via the FIRST Robotics Club, robotic materials and curriculum will be provided for students throughout the district in the Brunswick County Schools’ Robotics program.

Early College High School (Kathrine Weeks and Judy Rodriguez): With the Global Perspective with Virtual Reality program, students will be able to learn about various cultures through virtual field trips.

Old Dock Elementary (Mia Bowen): With new supplies for a reading center including puzzles, phonics materials, magnetic writing pages, building boards and more students will be Centered Around First Grade and ready to take on reading.

Shallotte Middle School (Jennifer Murphy): Via the Reading Room, middle school students will have access to oversized beanbags to read and relax in the school’s media center.

South Brunswick High School (Kim Flood): Through the Learning Together with Technology program, students in the exceptional children’s program will be able to learn with an interactive panel in their classroom.

South Columbus High School (Jimmy Price): In the Stallion Piano program, student’s at South Columbus High School will be able to learn music with a new piano and choral music program.

South Columbus High School (Crystal Stubbs): Through the Enhanced SWAG program, students and teachers will benefit from a new media cart with a laptop, LCD projector, and speakers that can be used throughout the school.

Supply Elementary (Kathy Santini and Charles Snow): With the G.E.M.S and Bow TIE Clubs, students learn life skills in afterschool programs that teach leadership, etiquette and responsibility.

Union Elementary (Tara Cumbee and Jada Fimbel): Through the Let it Grow! program, students will have hands on experience building a rainforest, grassland or dessert terrarium.

Waccamaw K-8 School (Amber Malave): Through the Action for Success program, students in the school’s drop out prevention program will have access to headphones and chrome books to help them access educational resources.

Williams Township School (Cassie Hoffman): With this grant, students in the AIG Program will be able to use the Light Chasing Tinker Crates Robotic Program to encourage electronic and engineering skills
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West Brunswick High School (Abra Corcoran): Through the Occupational Course of Study Upgrade, exceptional needs students will learn life lessons like cooking and creating with the purchase of kitchen materials and a cricut vinyl machine.

West Brunswick High School (Jeff Clendenin and Joe Callisto): Students in the JROTC program will get hands-on learning with a new VEX Robot that can also be used in robotics competitions.

“We at ATMC believe in the power of education and the importance of teachers and instructional staff,” said Keith Holden, ATMC Chief Executive Officer. “Our local schools have had to stretch budgets and implement many new policies and procedures because of COVID-19, we hope we are able to help lighten their load a little by giving grants that can help make a difference in the lives of students and their families.”