Teams of students from the Newport Area Career and Technical Center (NACTC) in Newport, RI recently concluded an exceptional round of competition in the tenth season of CyberPatriot – the Air Force Association’s National Youth Cyber Defense Competition.
Established by AFA in 2009, CyberPatriot is designed to excite, educate, and motivate students toward careers in cyber security and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation’s future.
CyberPatriot’s core program – the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition – challenges teams of students across the United States, Canada, and from DoDD schools abroad, to find and resolve cybersecurity vulnerabilities in simulated environments.
The CyberPatriot field is divided into three divisions – the Open Division for public, private, and homeschool teams; the All Service Division for JROTC, Civil Air Patrol, and Naval Sea Cadet Corps teams; and the Middle School Division. Based on the results of two preliminary rounds, CyberPatriot X high school teams were categorized within their divisions as Platinum, Gold, or Silver Tier teams, with Platinum Tier teams representing the highest scoring teams.
Led by Coach Monica Awde Wlodyka, a team of students from the Academy of Information Technology (AOIT) excelled in the CyberPatriot X State Round held January 19-21, 2018, demonstrating teamwork, critical thinking skills, and technical knowledge key skills for a successful career in cybersecurity. The team’s performance earned it Rhode Island’s 1st Place Silver Tier Award and a spot in the Silver Tier Semifinal Round held this month. Coach Monica Wlodyka indicated
“AOIT teams have been participating in this cybersecurity event for a number of years now. Each year we see veteran competitors return and we also see some new faces. It’s exciting to see their exposure to careers in computer science and information technology grow. Our mentors Keith Manville, Wesley Isom and AOIT graduate, Alex Bestoso, make the student success possible.”
Led by Coach Anthony Hanos, the team of students from the Pathways in Technology Early College High School (PTECH) program excelled in the CyberPatriot X State Round held Jan. 19-21, demonstrating teamwork, critical thinking skills, and technical knowledge key to a successful career in cybersecurity. The team’s performance earned it Rhode Island’s 3rd Place Award and a spot in the Silver Tier Semifinal Round held this month.
“It has been a year of learning in our first season, but our teams have persevered through every challenge. I’m proud of how resilient our team has been and the results they have been able to achieve” coach Hanos remarked.