Education initiative offers five local teens chance to compete

Five students from Bob Jones High School will be competing online in coming weeks for a chance to win college scholarship money and a free trip to Washington, D.C.

CyberPatriot, presented by Northrop Grumman, is the one-of-a-kind national cyber security competition produced by the Air Force Association (AFA), a nonprofit organization headquartered near Washington, D.C. The purpose of this competition is to help students learn about the cyber security field and introduce many to the idea of cyber security as a profession.

“Because of our unique online competition format, hundreds of teams can compete at one time,” said Bernie Skoch, CyberPatriot commissioner. “To join, a high school teacher signs up and signs on five bright students for a fun, hands-on learning opportunity. It’s a great chance to learn and have a great time.”

Led by Randy Herd, coach for the Bob Jones team, comprised of United States Air Force JROTC students, will virtually compete against hundreds of teams around the nation.

Other schools still have time to field teams, with the registration’s Oct. 8 deadline just around the corner.

Teams of five, with an approved coach (usually a teacher), learn to defend a computer network from real-life computer threat scenarios. In the fall, hundreds of teams square off online using special software and programs provided by CyberPatriot to competitively solve vulnerabilities in their network. The top teams then compete again in a series of online rounds to determine finalists for an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. and the Championship Round at the Gaylord National Convention Center in April 2011.

Any high school can field a team for the Open Division, while JROTC units from any service or Civil Air Patrol are also eligible to field a team for the all-service Commander-in-Chief’s Division. The educational experience and materials are identical for students in either division.