PARKER — A seventh- grade class at St. Luke Lutheran School is seeing that bright ideas can pay off big time.

Central Electric Cooperative, which provides electric service to about 25,000 members in seven counties in Western Pennsylvania, recently awarded $821 to Melissa Brusler's class as part of the company's annual Bright Ideas teacher grant program. The science class is conducting a project on energy sources and conservation.

The money will be used to buy conservation kits and infrared temperature guns. Students will use the equipment to explore and make electrical energy from various sources, including wind, solar, and with hand generators, before converting the energy into other forms. The infrared guns will alert students to potential energy waste at school and in their homes.

The grant program helps fund “innovative, energy-related learning projects,” in schools within Armstrong, Butler, Clarion, Forest and Venango counties.