The Mississippi Power Education Foundation has awarded more than $30,000 in grants to 13 educational institutions in southeastern Mississippi.

The grants range from kindergarten students studying the life cycles of frogs and ladybugs to exploring the ocean and its habitats to using professional racing and its technology to teach science and math.

“The variety of needs in our schools call for innovation from our teachers,” said the foundation’s executive director, Huntley Biggs. “Our foundation aims to support a wide range of educational initiatives that benefit students at all levels. These awards continue our tradition of doing just that.”

Since 1984, through its foundations, Mississippi Power Company has supported excellence in education in southeast Mississippi. During the past 15 years, the foundations have awarded more than $2 million in grants to individual teachers, schools, and school systems.

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Mississippi Power Education Foundation Grants – May 1999

Buckatunna Elementary – Wayne County – Unlocking the Barriers and Plugging into Success – Using interactive software in grades K-8

Enterprise High School – Making A Transition – preparing special needs students for jobs

Greene County High School – introducing a language curriculum to help special needs students improve their specific deficiencies

Harper McCaughan Elementary – Long Beach – Literary Approach to Mathematics and Science – teaching math and science through literary kits containing books and activities

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College – Gulf Coast Youth Leadership – a year-long series of retreats and classes focusing on leadership for high school juniors

Oak Grove Upper Elementary – Lamar County – Mastering Technology to Enhance Learning – providing training for teachers and students in technology based learning

Runnelstown Elementary – Changing Before Our Eyes – a kindergarten program studying the life cycles of frogs, ladybugs, etc.

Stringer Attendance Center – Jasper County – Rev It Up – Racing Across the Curriculum – using racing and its technology to teach science and mathematics

Waynesboro Elementary – Project Read – a reading and writing program for 525 students in grades 1, 2, & 3

Waynesboro Middle School – The Open Ocean – students in grades 5-8 will study the ocean and its environments through software and videos

W. H. Jones Elementary – Hattiesburg – The Rocky Earth – third grade students will observe, sort, and classify rocks in order to hold a “rock fair”

W. L. Smith Elementary – Petal – Makers of News – Students in grades 3-5 will study newspapers and develop their own publication using desktop publishing

Woodley Elementary – Hattiesburg – Give Science a Hand Through Hands On Investigation – learning the scientific method through observation and problem solving