By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Clanton Intermediate third-grade students in Jill Moatts’ class will have the chance to try their hand at being an author thanks to a Bright Ideas grant.

“I plan to teach a creative writing unit in the spring and my students will write and publish their very own book,” Moatts said.

Moatts applied for $250 for the project. The funds will be used to purchase blank, hardback books for students to write the final draft of their story in and to host a authors reception with the students’ parents.

Students will learn about the writing process as they develop ideas, write a rough draft and make changes before completing the final draft.

This is the second year in a row that the Central Alabama Electric Cooperative has chosen to approve Moatts’ application.

“Writing is an area we are not able to spend as much time on as we would like so this will be fun and very educational project for my students,” Moatts said.

This year CAEC awarded a total of $24,000 in grants. Seven of these were to educators in Chilton County.

In the 20 years since the Bright Ideas Grant program was started, CEC has awarded $328,000.

“Since the inception of this program in 1998, we have seen a variety of grants and

proposals that creative and dedicated educators have sought to bring to their

classrooms to enhance their students’ education,” said CAEC President and CEO Tom

Stackhouse. “And while the projects may have changed, the cooperative’s dedication of

providing assistance to our educators, who work with students and impact them in such

positive ways, has not wavered.”