Education

Every year NTEC hosts Carbon Rocks! for teachers at Navajo area schools. The goal is to help participants understand the technical aspects of carbon-based power generation. Teachers tour Navajo Mine and Four Corners Power Plant to gain first-hand insights into how electricity is generated. Teachers then explore other aspects of power generation and consumption with the goal of creating lesson plans for the following school year.

Teachers are selected through an application process and will receive stipends, be reimbursed for mileage, with lodging and meals provided throughout the workshop.

The applications will open for the 2025 class in April of 2025.

If you’re interested in gaining more information please email CarbonRocks@NavEnergy.com

NTEC partners with Girl Scouts to offer a STEM Camp every Summer. Throughout the camp, Girl Scouts from the Navajo Nation learn about how science in the world around us, but in a fun way.

Lessons have included Navajo rug weaving, basket making, rocket building, archery while having inspirational speakers like Miss Navajo Nation and female STEM professionals.

The camp is held annually in June and is open to Girl Scouts troops and independent members.

One of the best ways to create a STEM career in mining is through internships. NTEC offers internship opportunities for students looking to engage in the mining process. Interns are selected through an application process starting in the fall. Intern opportunities are offered in our Powder River Basin mines and Navajo Mine. They include an hourly wage and scholarship opportunities.

Interns generally work during the summer season. We have more than 20 internships available on average. Look at our Careers page for updates starting in September each year.

Rezbotics is one of the newest educational programs NTEC offers. Working with FIRST Robotics Competition and the CocoNuts Robotics Team from Flagstaff, Arizona, NTEC sponsored the Rezbotics Competition held at Diné College.

The competition was an apex to an inaugural effort that started with NTEC donating robotics kits to eight different high schools to help them build a robot for competition. Months later, the teams came together at Rezbotics where the winner earned a chance to compete in the FIRST National Robotics Competition in Houston.

NTEC is looking to expand on last year’s efforts to help engage high school students to improve teamworking, technical building and inspiring a path inclusive of STEM.

Many Navajo Nation area schools are remote and don’t have the budget to send students far to engage is Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning opportunities. NTEC is changing this by working with partners to bring STEM opportunities to the schools.

Several times a year, NTEC and its partners select high schools on and near the Navajo Nation to host STEM-sation events. Through speakers and display booths, students learn about STEM in everyday life including how STEM can be the foundation of a career.

If your high school is interested in hosting STEM-sation, please email our Education Coordinator Nathan Tohtsoni at Nathan.Tohtsoni@NavEnergy.com.