The Greenville Academy math program, "Manipulating Math into the New Millennium," received a big boost this week with the acceptance of a $975 grant provided by Alabama Power.

The grant, funded by the Alabama Power Foundation, is part of more that $140,000 in grants recently divided between 146 educators through its tenth annual education programs.

Recipients of the grants were selected by an independent team of judges from a pool of more than 430 applicants. Those educators awarded the grants will use the funds to implement new, innovative educational programs in public, private and parochial schools throughout the state.

Greenville Academy second grade teacher Kathy Lowery said the school developed its new math program to help students in the first through third grades gain a better understanding of math concepts and develop an interest in math early in their school career.

She said the funds will be used to purchase overhead projectors and materials that will create a visual learning experience with hands-on activities that spark a student's interest in math.

"We are hoping the program will help us improve our math skills and get the parents more involved in their child's education," Lowery said.

Lowery said she, first grade teacher Cecilia Holley and third grade teacher Laura Brantley developed the program together in order to give students a head start on learning math concepts such as geometry, fractions, patterns and other sometimes confusing aspects of math. She said the funding of the program will allow students in the first through third grades to become more fundamentally grounded in these basic concepts.

The Alabama Power Foundation has awarded 1,040 similar grants to Alabama educators which have totaled more than $1.8 million since the grant program was established in 1991.