Marshall High School Wins State Award

Two teams of high school students from Marshall, A Governor’s STEM Academy in Falls Church, Virginia recently concluded an exceptional round of competition in the seventh season of CyberPatriot – the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition.

Established by the Air Force Association, the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Education Program was created 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 two to six students across the United States, Canada, and from DoDD schools abroad, to find and resolve cybersecurity vulnerabilities in simulated environments. Top teams from the preliminary online rounds win an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC for the live National Finals Competition, where students compete for national recognition and scholarships.

The CyberPatriot field is divided into three divisions – the Open Division for public, private, and home school 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 VII high school teams were categorized within their divisions as Platinum, Gold, or Silver Tier teams, with Platinum Tier teams representing the highest scoring teams.

In all, 2,175 teams registered to compete in CyberPatriot VII.

Led by Coach Jason Simeon and mentor Ryan Walters, the team of students from Marshall, A Governor’s STEM Academy excelled in the CyberPatriot VII State Round held December 5-7, demonstrating teamwork, critical thinking skills, and technical knowledge key to a successful career in cybersecurity. The team’s performance earned it State’s 1s and 3rd Place Award and a spot in the Platinum Tier Regional Round to be held January 16-18, 2015.

“It’s amazing what these students can do when given an opportunity” Jeff McFarland, Administrator

Following the Regional/Category Round and Middle School Division Semifinals Round January 16-18, top teams in the Open and All Service Divisions’ Platinum Tier and the top three Middle School Division teams nationally will advance to the CyberPatriot VII Finals Competition in Washington, DC.

More information is available at www.uscyberpatriot.org or from the CyberPatriot staff at info@uscyberpatriot.org.