Concern for Community is one of the Seven Cooperative Principles guiding South Plains Electric Cooperative. Giving back to our community gives our Cooperative the opportunity to support community efforts that enhance the quality of life for members and their families. Operation Round Up helps provide funding for community members in need.

As a Cooperative member, you can automatically round up your monthly electric bill to the nearest dollar in which the extra cents collected will be contributed to Operation Round Up.

Shelby Gaddis, a special education teacher for Roosevelt Junior High School, was a recipient of an Operation Round Up Teacher Mini-Grant in 2023.

Gaddis used her teacher mini-grant to purchase Hi-Lo books for her two resource reading classes. Hi-interest, low-readability books are designed to help struggling readers better engage with story content by featuring simple sentences, controlled vocabulary and short chapters. Gaddis teaches 6th and 7th graders in a school where 80% of the students are socioeconomically disadvantaged.

Ricky the Rock That Couldn’t Roll was the first Hi-Lo book Gaddis’ students read. To supplement the reading of this book and the story’s moral of never giving up, Gaddis’ students drew short inspirational phrases on rocks. The book and her students’ painted rocks are displayed in Gaddis’ classroom. Gaddis said her students love looking at the rocks while getting their materials needed for the day.

Click here for more information about the program.