One of St. Pius V’s clubs, Cyber Patriot, has returned! Cyber Patriot is the National Youth Cyber Education Program established by the Air Force Association. The club is designed to inspire students to consider careers in cyber security or other STEM disciplines. At St. Pius V, we are blessed that our parent mentors for this club, Johan Claderon and Orlando Torres, are both in the military and have extensive technical experience. They offer student a firsthand perspective of how these careers directly shape the future of our nation.
Mrs. Thibeault, Cyber Patriot’s teacher advisor, says that this program is great for students who are interested in computers, coding, programming, and technology in general. Currently, SPV has two teams of six students and they had their first competition in November. Although there is a grade restriction for participating in competitions, any student who is interested in learning more is welcome to join Cyber Patriot and participate in the weekly meetings and trainings.
The next competition Cyber Patriot members are excitedly preparing for is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, which challenges middle school students to think and work as IT professionals, managing the networks of a small company and finding and fixing cybersecurity issues of virtual operating systems. The top teams in the state will be recognized at an awards banquet later in the spring and will also have a chance to compete at the national level.
