With the Newton County School System in such dire financial straights, any little bit of monetary help has been very much appreciated, and since January 2008, they have managed to apply for and receive more then $5 million in grant money to help fund different projects.All schools benefited with grants from NEH Picturing America ($4,000 for American history resources), Snapping Shoals EMC Bright Ideas Innovations ($17,495 and $17,609) and NEH "A More Perfect Union" ($12,000) for books and films on U.S. history/culture.The NCSS received a total of $345,000 in HP technology for science grants