Three recent Troy University graduates received $1,000 grants from the Alabama Power Foundation to purchase teaching materials and classroom supplies.

The award recipients were: Patty Renea Carlson from the Phenix City Campus, Kirstan Somone Davis from the Dothan Campus and Carrie Rigdon from the Troy Campus.

Alabama Power Foundation grants are awarded annually to 12 first-year teachers in the Alabama school system and have been since 1995. Candidates are submitted by the state's public teacher colleges and winners are selected by a committee that includes education school deans. All winning candidates graduated from a state-approved teacher program at an Alabama public four-year college or university.

“These grants give teachers the power to inspire and educate their students by purchasing needed classroom supplies,” said Foundation President John Hudson. “We are proud to support some of Alabama's most promising teachers as they begin their careers.”

Carlson is currently teaching at Mount Olive Primary school in Fort Mitchell; Davis is a teacher at Holly Hill Elementary in Enterprise; and Rigdon teaches at the Pike County High School in Brundidge.