Owen Nix, a chemistry teacher at Effingham County High School, received the Geprgia Power first-year teacher's grant.
The $1,000 grant will go toward purchasing items Nix needs for his classroom.
"This will really help," Nix said.
Effingham County High School Principal Yancy Ford was glad to have Nix on his staff.
"Really, really good science teachers are hard to find," he said. "We were fortunate to find Owen. He is phenomenal in the classroom."
Nix also played club lacrosse at Georgia Southern University.
Wayne Grimes with Georgia Power said 50 percent of new teachers leave within their first five years in the profession. Georgia Power has been distributing the grants for 12 years.