Brightening awareness of electric co-ops.

Middle-school students across America have increased insight into how the lights get turned on thanks to a national education campaign spearheaded by Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, an affiliate of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), Arlington, Virginia. Touchstone Energy, an alliance of more than 600 electric cooperatives in 44 states, partnered with Discovery Channel School to create the "Get Charged! Electricity and You" program to educate students about how electricity works and the key role played by rural electric cooperatives.

The program's educational tools include videos, CD-ROMs, a teacher's resource guide, and student activity books. Cooperatives are able to personalize all elements of the educational tools by placing their respective logos on the materials. In addition, local cooperatives--to achieve their own branding and communication goals--may include co-op specific teaching materials in the kits. To promote the program, NRECA reports on the activities of involved cooperatives in a range of communication vehicles, including its weekly newspaper Electric Co-op Today.

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More than 7,000 "Get Charged!" educational kits have been distributed under the program. "Providing schools with an effective educational source on electricity and the vital efforts rural electric co-ops put forth in bringing power to the people all across America exemplifies our commitment to community," says Jim Bausell, chief operating officer, Touchstone Energy.