PIKEVILLE -- A Teacher Vision Grant (TVG) from American Electric Power (AEP) and its Kentucky Power operating unit was recently presented to Michael Hopson, an educator at Belfry Area Technical Center in Phelps. The $500 grant provides funding to facilitate a sustainable energy systems project Hopson proposed under the TVG program.
 
The Teacher Vision Grant program was launched in 2003 and is designed to provide financial assistance ranging from $100 to $500 to classroom teachers in AEP's and Kentucky Power's service territories. The competitive grants are designed to help teachers implement original instructional programs and/or lessons in their classrooms.
 
"AEP and Kentucky Power offer the TVG program to help fund innovative educational programs that stimulate student learning and creativity. Often, teachers have great ideas for programs that enhance learning, but don't have funding to implement their ideas. The Vision Grants are meant to provide at least some of the funding necessary to introduce those programs," said Bob Shurtleff, manager of distribution and customer services for Kentucky Power's Pikeville District.
 
The goal of Hopson's grant-winning program is to present students an overview of energy technology with an emphasis on electrical power generation and its sustainability. In doing so, his students will examine conventional and emerging technologies, including wind turbines and photovoltaic cells. He also plans to teach about energy conservation in homes and businesses.
 
Educators who live or teach in the AEP/Kentucky Power service area or in communities with major AEP facilities are eligible to apply for Vision Grants. Priority is given to educators who have attended AEP Workshops for Educators, National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project training, AEP's E-Lab projects, or who are affiliated with an AEP school-business partnership. Projects that have an academic focus and goal of improving student achievement are eligible for consideration. AEP and Kentucky Power have a special interest in science, mathematics, technology, electrical safety and the balanced study of energy and the environment.
 
For more information on the Teacher Vision Grant Program and other AEP education initiatives, see www.aep.com/go/education.
Kentucky Power provides electricity to approximately 175,000 customers in all or parts of 20 eastern Kentucky counties. It is an operating unit of American Electric Power.
 
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP's transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP's utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.
 
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