While most students are enjoying their summer breaks, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management Nevada Program is gearing up for another year of investing in science, technology, engineering and math education. July 14, 2026
Office of Environmental Management
July 14, 2026
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Funding from the Community Commitment Grant Program helped Innovation Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, supplement its life science laboratory to enhance student understanding of anatomy and physiology. In these photos, students dissect synthetic frogs and pigs designed for classroom use. Photos courtesy of Innovation Academy.
LAS VEGAS – While most students are enjoying their summer breaks, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) Nevada Program is gearing up for another year of investing in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.
EM Nevada and Environmental Program Services contractor Navarro Research and Engineering Inc. are preparing to launch the sixth year of the Community Commitment Grant Program, which provides STEM resources to communities near the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS).
Since its inception, the grant program has awarded more than $83,000 to public, private and charter schools in six Nevada counties. And for 2026-2027, about $30,000 in grant funding is available to support the prioritization of STEM education, which has been identified as a national security and economic imperative.
One grant recipient, Innovation Academy in Las Vegas, recently shared how students are benefiting. Mikaela Batres, an academy teacher who submitted the grant application, stressed the need to supplement the school’s life science lab for enhancing student understanding of anatomy and physiology, leading to higher levels of comprehension and retention.
In a thank-you note, Maggie Bray, the academy’s principal, wrote that the grant allowed the school to create a dissection lab for its STEM program.
“The sixth-grade students participated in an owl pellet dissection to better understand food webs, seventh and eighth grades participated in a frog and fetal pig dissection to better understand body systems, their functions, the interconnection between systems, and to compare the similarities and differences between animal and human body systems,” Bray said. “None of this could have been possible without the community commitment grant to support our advancement of curriculum in STEM!”
Last year, another award recipient, Carroll M. Johnston STEM Academy in North Las Vegas, invited EM Nevada and Navarro staff to see students use robots purchased with the grant. Teacher Dawn Liimatainen noted the difference the robots make in the educational experience.
“A lot of schools, it’s just paper, pencil and that’s it, and our kids seem to be learning a lot just with the hands-on activities,” said Liimatainen. “We wouldn’t be able to do that if it weren’t for grants like this.”
Rob Boehlecke, EM Nevada program manager, and Susana Navarro, Navarro president and CEO, are united in their commitment to STEM education that helps grow the next generation of technical leaders and workers for the NNSS and the nation.
“STEM education strengthens the foundation of our society,” Boehlecke said. “The EM Nevada Program and Navarro are honored to contribute to a brighter future for us all.”
-Contributors: Kevin Knapp, Barbara Ulmer
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