TEMPLE, Texas — The Temple Independent School District High School cybersecurity team is gearing up to compete in a national competition over the next three months.
Temple High School’s cybersecurity team is nicknamed the Cybercats and is made up of students from the Information Technology pathway in the school’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. The five-person team will be competing in CyberPatriot XVI, the nation’s largest cyber defense competition. During the competition, teams are put in charge of securing virtual networks to test the skills the students are already learning in the classroom. The team’s sponsor and coach, Information Technology teacher Luke Leon, says the program will give participating students the opportunity to work on real world challenges before they ever step out into the real world of cybersecurity.
“They are working on real world challenges and real world issues that cybersecurity companies in the public sector are facing right now,” Leon said. “So, it is incredible for them to get that kind of hands-on experience and take on real world problems while they are still in high school. I tell them every day that I am jealous of them because these kinds of opportunities did not exist when I was their age. If they do go into cybersecurity, I think they will look back on this experience later and be glad they had this kind of head start on their peers.”
Every team participating in CyberPatriot is guaranteed three rounds of competition where they have an opportunity to accumulate points while solving cyber defense problems. Those problems will increase in difficulty from round to round. The First Round takes place October 19-23 and Temple’s team has voted to compete on Thursday, October 19th, from 3:30-7:30 p.m. at Temple HS. The Second Round will be contested November 2-6th and the State Round Competition will be held December 7-11th. Qualifying teams will advance to the Semifinals in January and will have the chance to earn a spot in the National Finals in March in Maryland.
“I think this is a great learning experience because you pick up skills you wouldn’t learn in other classes,” team member and THS junior Jamaji Goodwin said. “Then you get to compete and practice and improve those skills. We have learned how to switch networks and secure them and that will help because I am considering pursuing a career in computer science.”
The team members will have a chance to improve more than just their skills during the competition, however. There will also be a focus on teamwork and collaboration. The experience will also give the team members a greater opportunity to explore the growing field of cybersecurity as they look at the possibility of making it a career.
“This gives us an opportunity to learn from our mistakes,” team member and THS sophomore Johnathon Shores. “I am also looking forward to learning more about teamwork and working together during the competition. This is very important because everywhere you look, people are on a phone or on a computer and we need to take cybersecurity seriously because people find ways to bypass passwords and things.”
The Cybercats also received a grant from McLane Technology Partners to help cover the cost of competing in CyberPatriot this school year.