ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½

, the contract manager for has announced the recipients for the 2024 LLNS Community Gift Program. These gifts, totaling $220,000, reflect LLNS' commitment to local communities.

LLNS received applications totaling more than $950,000 in requests. Forty-four applications were selected for awards totaling $220,000 through a committee review process. The program, which launched in 2008, serves children in the Tri-Valley area as well as Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Joaquin counties, with a focus on literacy, science, technology, engineering and math education, and cultural arts.

The following organizations received awards:

• Alameda County Foster Parent Association, Chapter 1: To cultivate a passion for STEAM education among foster children.
• American Association of Physics Teachers, Northern CA: To provide support and mentoring to new physics teachers in Northern California.
• Bay Area Rescue Mission: To provide women and children experiencing homelessness with essential supplies, including educational materials.
• California High School – Photography Program: To provide a unique hands-on learning experience that explores the relationship between analog photography, physics and chemistry through a comprehensive year-long darkroom photography program.
• California High School – Robotics Program: To inspire and engage students in computer science by offering physical computing projects that allow students to choose their creations, fostering joy and passion for the subject.
• Castro Valley High School – The Wallace Dynasty Robotics Team: To revitalize the robotics program with new components to improve the overall learning experience.
• Children Rising: To teach foundational mathematical concepts to enhance critical thinking, problem-solving abilities and analytical reasoning, thereby establishing a strong cognitive foundation through a math tutoring program.
• Children’s Museum of Stockton: To obtain a hands-on, STEM-related exhibit to deliver an exciting and innovative interactive learning experience.
• Choose College Educational Inc.: To empower students to shape their futures by preparing them for college through the encouragement of a sense of purpose, the development of effective study skills and the cultivation of independent learning.
• Curious Five: To provide students K–12 with a positive and supportive STEM learning experience that will inspire them to pursue future STEM careers.
• Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area: To empower, inspire and support individuals with Down Syndrome, their families, and the community that serves them, while fostering awareness and acceptance in all areas of life by providing educational programs.
• Dublin High School Parent Faculty Student Organization – Gael Force Robotics: To inspire the next generation and underrepresented communities to explore STEM through an innovative robotics program.
• East Bay Holocaust Education Center: To engage the community in rare historical artifacts and their related music, imparting lessons of social injustice, hope, resilience and survival through compelling storytelling.
• East Bay NSBE Jr. Chapter, LLC: To provide hands-on STEM and robotics programs to under-represented, underserved students in grades 3–12.
• Engineers Alliance for the Arts, Inc.: To inspire and educate students about the interaction of art, architecture, engineering, and construction using a STEAM curriculum combining technical and artistic components.
• Excelsior Middle School, Byron: To integrate science and technology into classrooms.
• Gardens at Heather Farms: To provide elementary classrooms with access to high-quality science instruction.
• Girls Incorporated of Alameda County: To support girls' engagement in STEM while addressing the unique racial, gender and socio-economic challenges they encounter in their pursuit of STEM fields.
• Jefferson School District, Jefferson School: To expand a drone building program, which will provide students with the opportunity to engage in engineering and programming projects.
• José M. Hernández Reaching for the Stars Foundation: To inspire youth to find passion in STEM education through the Science Blast Program.
• King’s Classical Academy: To expand the robotics program for the upcoming academic year as part of their increasing focus on STEAM education.
• Livermore High School - GravitechX Robotics Team: To support a student-led robotics program where students learn leadership, teamwork, and technical skills to prepare them for STEM careers.
• Livermore High School - Metal Shop: To train students to become future machinists and engineers.
• Livermore Music: To provide musical instruments, mentorship in music, and logistical support to all students seeking a music education.
• Marylin Avenue STEAM Academy, Livermore: To enhance the STEAM program by offering a greater variety of enrichment activities.
• Merrill F. West High School, Tracy: To enhance science education by implementing 3D printing to create educational manipulatives, introducing material science labs in chemistry classes, and expanding support for the school’s robotics club, which will foster hands-on, interdisciplinary learning that engages students in STEM education and prepares them for future academic and career opportunities.
• New Heart Community Church of the Nazarene: To expand our services to address the increasing demand for tutoring among families who cannot afford additional educational resources beyond public schooling.
• NextGen Innovators: To provide students with the opportunity to explore the field of engineering through hands-on experiences.
• Oakland Children’s Fairyland, Inc.: To support the Fairyland Flora & Fauna education program, which provides access to hands-on life science programming for K–5 students from under-resourced schools in a safe, creative and outdoor space that engages students of all learning orientations.
• Piedmont Makers, Castro Valley: To offer high school students access to engineering through competitive robotics in an innovative, engaging and collaborative environment.
• Regional Parks Foundation: To provide students with the opportunity to develop knowledge, awareness and respect for their environment, community and themselves, fostering lifelong learners and responsible global stewards.
• Ripon Elementary School: To expose students to a broader world they have yet to explore by enhancing their school’s curriculum with a comprehensive science program.
• San Ramon Valley High School - Robotics Team 1280: Expand science learning opportunities designed to build exploration skills and knowledge through awareness of the innovative science and technology and organizations in our region.
• Science is Elementary: To foster interest in science and a sense of belonging among young children, especially from historically disadvantaged communities, by bringing science learning into homes and communities, addressing the lack of high-quality science education and diversity represented in the field of STEM.
• Shepherd’s Gate: To enhance early childhood learning that will incorporate educational, tactile tools specifically designed for children with autism to effectively meet the special education needs of the children in our program.
• Stockton Unified School District: To implement a curriculum focused on coding and micro:bit utilization that enhances problem-solving skills and logical thinking, fosters solution development, and builds a strong foundation for future learning, ultimately preparing students for successful careers.
• Stoneman Elementary School, Pittsburg: To cultivate positive and rigorous classroom environments that actively engage students in academic pursuits, leading to high levels of achievement.
• System Overload Robotics: To create a learning environment that nurtures high school students’ growth and encourages the development of new and creative concepts through engineering competition-level robotics.
• Tower Foundation of San Jose State University, Science Extravaganza: To generate interest in STEAM fields among younger students while reinforcing the value of higher education through activities, such as the Science Extravaganza.
• Tri-Valley Robotics: To encourage and inspire elementary, middle and high school students to participate in, engage with, and excel in the field of robotics, equipping them for future success.
• Valley Montessori School: To provide a robust and empowering Montessori education for children aged 18 months to grade 8
• Wayfinder Family Services: To provide an early intervention program to assist children who are blind, visually impaired or multi-disabled to overcome challenges, strengthen their development and reach their greatest potential.
• Youth Eagles Aviation and Aerospace: To inspire the next generation of aviation, aerospace leaders and STEM innovators through hands-on, unique and educational experiences.
• Z-Cares Foundation: To generate mental health awareness and reduce the stigma of mental illness within our community. 

LLNS manages LLNL for the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. LLNS is comprised of Bechtel, the largest project management contractor in the United States; the University of California, the world’s largest public research institution; and BWXT Government Group, Inc. and Amentum, the top two DOE nuclear facilities contractors.

For more information regarding the LLNS Community Gift Program, see the .