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Brighter Minds A AlAbAmA schools Superintendent Tommy Bice is a fan of Brighter Minds, the Alabama Power Foun- dation's new education initiative. Bice, the keynote speaker at the Brighter Minds Education Summit in Birmingham on June 16, said the program meshes well with the state Department of Education's plan for improving K-12 education. "This partnership with Alabama Power has been invaluable to us," Bice told the audience of educa- tion stakeholders, which included Alabama Power Chairman, CEO and President Mark Crosswhite and many other company leaders. Bice said the state's plan "fits perfectly with what Brighter Minds has in mind." Why Brighter Minds? "You know, for a lot of us it's a personal issue," Crosswhite said, mentioning his 21-year- old and 17-year-old sons. "I want them to stay here. I want them to get a job in Alabama." What Brighter Minds plans is to sharpen the foundation's education focus on three critically important areas for preparing children for college and the workforce: Early childhood education; environmen- tal education classes for students who are in fourth grade and above; and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses and workforce development scholarships for high school students. Zeke Smith, Alabama Power executive vice president of External Affairs and the chairman of Gov. Robert Bentley's Alabama Workforce 2 The Alabama Power Foundation introduces a three-pronged program to help K-12 schools. STORy By BOB BlAlOCK PHOTOS By BIlly BROwn Alabama Schools Superintendent Tommy Bice discusses the state's education challenges at the Brighter Minds Education Summit.