Key Highlights

  • INL offering a free two-day workshop for educators on June 24-25
  • Focus on nuclear energy, AI, cybersecurity, and STEM careers
  • Participants gain teaching tools and continuing ed credits

Just when teachers thought they were getting out for the summer, it’s time to go back to school and get energized.

Idaho National Laboratory is holding a workshop on June 24 and 25 geared for teaching educators about the lab’s energy research programs.

“Energizing Minds: Exploring the Future of Energy at INL” is a two-day professional development workshop being held for free for certified kindergarten through 12th grade and community college teachers. The event is being presented by INL’s K-12 STEM Education team and “will showcase how we are changing the world’s energy future as the nation’s nuclear energy research laboratory.”

The workshop will be held at INL in Idaho Falls from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. both days, and attendees “are encouraged to bring their curiosity and enthusiasm as they explore INL’s advanced energy research and innovative technologies,” a release stated. It will also provide continuing education credits.

Attendees will learn about the energy research happening at the lab’s facilities and will provide a forum for collaboration. INL seeks to empower educators to become leaders in energy education, it said. Participants in the workshop will gain strategies, hands-on activities and resources to aid in their teaching to bolster student interest in STEM career pathways.

Among the topics being covered are nuclear energy, integrated energy systems, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and more. One day will be focused on classroom workshops and the next will include tours of the lab’s desert and in-town facilities.

Though the workshop is free, it is limited to the first 60 qualified applicants. More information can be found at the registration site.