Kelly Walsh High School CyberPatriots excelled at the world competition, placing in the top 40 of all teams in the CyberPatriot competition hosting over 4,000 competitors. “CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air Force Association to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation's future.” (https://www.uscyberpatriot.org/)
The National Youth Cyber Defense Competition is the nation's largest cyber defense competition, where high school and middle school students are put in charge of securing virtual networks through a series of challenges. These real-life scenarios provide students with the opportunity to excel as individuals and as a team, “We really have to depend on each other for accountability, responsibility, and our knowledge. Our overall success depends on if we can work together as a team. We were given challenges, and if we couldn’t figure it out, we have to work together, brainstorm ideas, and figure out a solution together,” shared Payton Raffensperger. As a KWHS student, Payton was actively involved in CyberPatriots starting as a freshman and excelled as an active leader and member of the JROTC program. She credits her time in ROTC and CyberPatriots for reinforcing high integrity and positive leadership skills, “Both programs have taught me when you commit to something, you stick to it. It’s taught me to be a person of integrity, a person who tells the truth, and a person who learns from mistakes, who doesn’t dwell on them, but recognizes them and moves forward.”
Kelly Walsh High School has three Cyber Patriot teams, including an ROTC division team. As a team, students work together on a challenge simulating a problem a real organization or company may have. Each team is comprised of specialty groups, including operations and networking, where students can navigate and explore specific areas of cyber security. Students complete the work through a virtual simulation with challenges, issues, and vulnerabilities found on computer systems they need to fix or secure. Students are also given opportunities to simulate real business operating systems and identify the correct solutions for their success.
Katie Eddington appreciates the opportunity to explore technology beyond the classroom that the group provides, “I joined the team because I love the CISCO portion of networking and cybersecurity. I had a class on this during my freshman year in high school, and once I found out you could do a competition in it, I was excited to participate. The competitions go beyond high school to the professional level, you gain exposure to this high level of competition, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s difficult and crazy, but it’s a lot of fun, especially if you enjoy this content.”
Planning to join the United States Air Force, Derek Burt says his time on the team and at KWHS has prepared him to excel in his future, “KW offers a ton of different computer science classes, I took a few of them, and I fell in love with it. I plan to do Cyber Security in the Air Force. KWHS has done an amazing job preparing me to succeed; there aren’t that many other places in Wyoming that have this many computer courses. I’ve received college credit for programming, web design, and cyber security.”
Kelly Walsh High School teacher and Cyber Patriot coach Duane Reimer began the club after a gentle nudge from Master Gunnery Sergeant Pickering, KWHS JROTC teacher, and coach. “I have to give him credit. About 14 years ago, the United States Air Force started a competition among ROTC and Junior ROTC programs across the world. Basically, it was a security competition with simulating hacking or hardening exercises to secure computers from being hacked. There is an ROTC division and an open division. I was teaching Cyber Security, and he had the ROTC program, so he came up and said, “We’re doing it,” and it’s been fantastic.”
The Kelly Walsh High School Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps was established in 2018 and is the first and only Marine Corps JROTC in the State of Wyoming.
Preston Jimenez is part of the ROTC CyberPatriot team for KWHS, “I have learned a lot about leadership in JROTC. It’s not about taking charge of other people but taking charge of yourself and being accountable for your responsibilities and to others. In CyberPatriots, the leadership I learned in ROTC has helped me to take charge of my specific assignments in the team challenges while working together for a solution.”
The experience with CyberPatriots has led students to explore additional opportunities outside of school. Levi Schupick shares his knowledge and expertise as a mentor for younger students as part of Casper’s Code Ninjas, which offers kids the chance to learn computer coding and programming. “I was kinda roped into CyberPatriots because I knew Lynix operation system. It has helped get my foot in the door of cyber security learning. I want to go into computer science and help others to understand how important it is to know information about where your personal information is and other cyber security elements that really help you protect yourself.”
For Kai Walker, CyberPatriots has provided an opportunity to expand upon an interest in operations and mechanics, “I was in the cyber security class, and the club looked fun. I really enjoy working with computers, especially taking them apart and putting them together; this has provided me with more familiarity with units, cyber security, and the use of operations in the industry. It’s been a lot of fun.”
With extraordinary success at each of the last three competitions, the KWHS CyberPatriots team continues to excel nationwide while showcasing their leadership and technical skills. Yet, at the end of each competition, it is the teamwork and camaraderie that they fall back into as the ultimate celebration of their team's success.
Kelly Walsh High School is committed to preparing all students for their next step by creating high expectations, academic rigor, and personal responsibility.
Congratulations, students, on your extraordinary achievement!