Santee Cooper Puts the “Power” in
Youth Empowerment

Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility based in Moncks Corner, provides empowerment in the literal sense. They directly provide power to 163,000 residential customers in Berkeley, Georgetown and Horry counties. And because their mission is to be the state’s leading resource for improving the quality of life for the people of South Carolina, their empowerment doesn’t stop there. Since 2000, Santee Cooper has sponsored CHOICES throughout the three county area, sending their employees into the schools to empower students with the CHOICES message. They’ve done it 638 times so far, and just signed up to deliver another 120 classes beginning this fall - that’s over 19,000 students in seven years! How does a company make this kind of commitment to the community?

“CHOICES is a unique opportunity for business and education to work together to motivate students to take charge of their life,” said Jim Brogdon, Santee Cooper’s Sr. Vice President and General Counsel. “Santee Cooper has been a proud supporter of CHOICES for many years as we value a strong community, an educated workforce and bright future for our next generation of leaders.”

“This is Santee Cooper’s eighth year sponsoring CHOICES,” says Barbara Allen, Director, Educational Programs and CHOICES Program Manager. “Through CHOICES, I believe Santee Cooper employees help students understand the need to motivate themselves to learn and to seek personal excellence in what they do, rather than just getting by. The interactive lessons are effective tools which help our presenters relate to 8th grade students the value of graduating from high school with a post secondary plan—a must if these students want to increase the odds that their hopes and dreams for the future will be realized.”

Kim Cullen, an engineer and CHOICES presenter says it best, “It really makes me feel good when I read through the student surveys and at least one student said I helped them decide to stay in school. I feel that if I can change the life of at least one student for the better, then it was well worth me being there.”

“My personal reward,” says Barbara, “is working with dedicated employees like Kim, who volunteer each year because they want to make a difference in the lives of our youth. The positive feedback from our employees, the teachers and the students is what keeps Santee Cooper committed to sponsoring educational programs like CHOICES and, simply stated, it is “the right thing to do.”