The Alliance for Cyber Education at Fort Gordon won the CyberPatriot Center of Excellence for the second time in as many years.
The Center focuses on introducing cyber-pathways into Georgia high schools. These cyber-pathways allow for ninth graders to take Introduction to Information Technology, 10th graders to continue with Introduction to Cyber Security, and 11th graders to study Advanced Cyber Security.
“This Cyber Education committee has been working around the clock,” Dr. Tom Clark said. He serves as executive director of the Alliance. “They are a group of folks from two states and seven counties.”
This program is a part of the Air Force Association, and CyberPatriot is their flagship effort centered on youth cyber education.
There’s also a heavy focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) training dedicated to strengthening cyber skills among American youth. The Center of Excellence designation is awarded to communities and institutions that provide leadership and support to further the educational experiences of their students through the CyberPatriot program, according to their website.
“One of the committee’s successes is growing the CyberPatriot teams as well as middle and high school educators from 18 teams to over 100 teams in the last two years,” Clark said. In the past year, the Alliance for Cyber Education team conducted free CyberPatriot training for over 70 regional teachers held by and at the Georgia Cyber Center, located in the heart of Augusta’s downtown.
The event included teacher and mentor training sessions prior to its two Air Force Association CyberCamps. Students from 40 different schools participated in the camps, with over 60% of campers coming from middle school and 24% of registered campers being female.
“We are so very proud of our students, our school superintendents, our teachers, the Fort Gordon Cyber District, our local businesses, the Georgia Cyber Center, our sponsors, and our region for being named the CyberPatriot Center of Excellence of the year for two straight years,” Clark said. “Back-to-back COE awards is something our team and our region can all be truly proud of.”
Tyler Strong is the Business Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at tyler@theaugustapress.com
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