It was a tough assignment: Explain how electricity works, why safety and energy efficiency matter, and what makes electric cooperatives different to kids from kindergarten through middle school.

By keeping members front of mind, Cooperative Energy, a wholesale generation and transmission provider based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, appears to have made the grade.

Just ask Amanda Mills, communication manager for Laurel, Mississippi-based Dixie Electric Power Association.

Equipped with Power Pals, an educational resource developed by Cooperative Energy, Dixie Electric this year went to the head of the class in empowering schools in its service territory to teach about electricity and raise electrical safety awareness.

“One of the biggest challenges with classroom presentations is finding a way to make the message stick after you walk out the door. Power Pals has helped us do exactly that," says Mills.

“The materials, such as stickers, coloring sheets and characters, capture the students' attention during our visits, and the resources left with teachers allow those conversations to continue in the classroom."

Cooperative Energy created Power Pals as a fun and engaging way for children to learn about electricity and safety, and the G&T is offering the resource at no cost to its 11 member distribution co-ops to share with their communities, schools, parents and kids.

“One hundred percent of the goal was to support our members and their education efforts," says Sara Peterson, director of corporate communications at Cooperative Energy. “We believe that anything we can do as a G&T to support our members' goals and also live out the cooperative principles is a step in the right direction."

The idea of Power Pals followed Cooperative Energy's successful animated statewide safety campaign, the Cooperative Gang, in 2025. The G&T's members weren't satisfied with a vendor's educational materials, saying they were outdated and not specific to co-ops.

Cooperative Energy's communications team soon got busy and, with help from a summer intern, built a family-friendly curriculum by the end of last year. It covers how power is generated and transmitted in addition to safety and the cooperative business model.

“We found the Mississippi science curriculum and tried to identify things that would really help supplement that so that our program would be a beneficial resource for educators, homeschool parents or teachers," says Peterson.

The Cooperative Gang from the safety campaign features native Mississippi woodland creatures Cooper the owl, Rae the armadillo, Ty the beaver and Ivy the fox. Together, they invite kids to join them as Power Pals as they participate in puzzles, activity sheets, fun experiments and more.

With that, says Amy Griffin, Cooperative Energy corporate communications manager, “we were able to expand our audience to educators and the community as a whole. It helps co-ops strengthen relationships with schools and families while reinforcing the cooperative business model."

The G&T encourages its member co-ops to stamp their logo on the materials, share them at schools and community and co-op events, and have them on hand at their offices.

Teachers, parents and homeschool groups also all have free, easy access to the Power Pals educational materials housed within Cooperative Energy's website.

“They can just connect and print out what they need or use any of the resources on the site with no hassle, no red tape, no having to submit a formal request," Peterson says.

The 2026-27 school year will be the program's first full educational term, and Peterson and Griffin say they are excited to learn how the program serves teachers and students and hear feedback from their members during their regular quarterly check-ins.

“It's been a really fun process, and I think it's truly beneficial for our members," says Peterson. “And now, with the new school year kicking off, our members will begin to promote it more and get some engagement."

In Dixie Electric's territory, Power Pals already is getting high marks.

“It's made our school outreach more engaging, more memorable and ultimately more impactful," says Mills.