The Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett was awarded a $5,000 grant through a nomination by Jackson EMC to the CoBank Sharing Success Program. The grant will assist the Lawrenceville-based nonprofit with purchasing an interactive SMART Board for each classroom, which will create a more immersive educational experience for special needs students. 

A SMART Board is an interactive whiteboard for classrooms that projects an image on a screen and allows teachers and students to interact with the information displayed.  

“SMART Boards will provide our teachers with an outstanding resource, and our students will benefit tremendously from this interactive and hands-on technology,” said Jamie Hamilton, director of community and donor engagement at the Special Needs School. “We've never been able to offer an experience like this, and we know it will help elevate the educational standard at Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett."  

In 2019, Jackson EMC provided the Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett with a $25,000 donation, which  was made possible using margin refunds that have been unclaimed by the electric cooperative’s members for five years. Legislation passed in 2005 permits Georgia electric cooperatives to make charitable, education and economic development contributions of unclaimed margin refunds. 

The Jackson EMC donation made the school eligible for a grant nomination from the CoBank Sharing Success program. The program matches contributions — up to $10,000 —made by its cooperative members, which includes Jackson EMC. 

CoBank is a national cooperative bank serving industries and utilities in rural areas of all 50 states. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers. 

The Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett provides educational and therapeutic programming for special needs students who cannot function in a regular school environment. 

Jackson Electric Membership Corporation, the largest electric cooperative in Georgia and one of the largest in the nation, is headquartered 50 miles northeast of Atlanta in Jefferson, Ga. The cooperative serves more than 235,000 meters on 14,132 miles of energized wire. For more information, visit jacksonemc.com.