CyberPatriot Designates Spokane School District “Center of Excellence”

AFA's CyberPatriot program has announced Spokane Public Schools of Washington state as its third CyberPatriot Center of Excellence!

The Center of Excellence designation refers to districts and communities that provide leadership and support to further the educational experiences of their students through the CyberPatriot program. CyberPatriot established the Centers of Excellence program in 2011, and thus far, two other communities – the Los Angeles Unified School District and the city of San Antonio – have been recognized.

In the 2011-2012 school year, Spokane Public Schools registered 20 schools to participate in the CyberPatriot IV competition, which was powered by SAIC’s CyberNEXS. And seven of the teams made their way to the National Finals Competition.

But Spokane did not just stop at registering teams; they facilitated a network of mentors, using an array of specialists to cover different topics of cybersecurity. Throughout the competition, some teams attended weekly (and sometimes biweekly) meetings, having mentors address different operating systems with the goal of giving their students the knowledge to build servers from the ground up.

As CyberPatriot works to improve high school students' understanding of cyber security and good citizenship, communities like Spokane are instrumental to its success. Such areas have made big efforts and strong initiatives to create the supportive environment to further their students’ learning experiences. Congrats to Spokane! 

For more information on CyberPatriot, go to www.uscyberpatriot.org.