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| In Partnership With . . .
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| The Pathway to Advancement of Cybersecurity Education (PACE) project is funded by a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Grant.
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| Superintendent Cup Competition
On April 2, 2022, our Elementary Superintendent Cup Program had its final competition of the season. We had three districts battle it out for a chance to win the Superintendent Cup. Students trained for months to showcase their skills in using virtual machines to compete against their classmates and other schools. We would like to thank Hansen Elementary, Los Coyotes Elementary, and Pyles Academy for participating in the competition. We would like to extend a huge congratulations to all the students who competed!
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| Virtual Award Ceremony
Cypress College celebrated the end of the CyberPatriot and Superintendent's Cup season with a virtual award ceremony on May 13. The program consisted of special words from staff, superintendents, and students. Awards were presented to the top teams of each category: Top Regional High School, Top Regional Middle School, and Top Regional Elementary School. Additionally, we had awards for Most Improved Elementary School Team and Best Elementary School Team. We also awarded a school district this year's Superintendent's Cup.
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| CIS Certification
For our CIS classes, our goal is not only to teach students the material; we also focus on having students complete industry-recognized certifications before completing the course at Cypress College. Our goal for our students is for them to walk out of the classroom ready to start a career and be industry-certified. More than 450 students took our CIS courses this past year. We also had 30 students complete the Cypress College CIS certificate and 25 students complete their ITF+ industry certificate in their foundational course.
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| CyberPatriot Competition
Out CyberPatriot XIV season has concluded. Our middle and high school teams trained for six months and participated in three 6-hour Saturday competitions. Each team competed against fellow teams from their school and against other schools in the region. We are extremely proud of each student and how much they have improved. This year, we had 13 teams advance to the national semifinal. We also want to thank the following middle and high schools and our amazing school coaches for their participation this year!
Cabrillo High School, Cerritos High School, Cypress High School, Dale Jr. High School, Gahr High School, Lexington Middle School, Magnolia High School, Oxford Academy, Rancho Alamitos High School, and Ross Media Academy.
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| NSF Advisory Meeting
Cypress College hosted an Industry Advisory meeting on April 13, 2022. We were excited to share updates on program progress as we continue to train the next generation of cyber professionals. During the meeting, we were able to update our curriculum to include two new classes in our cybersecurity certification pathway. We were also able to discuss summer internship opportunities available to our students, and eKadence, our digital badging platform. We greatly appreciate the support of our industry partners and are always looking to expand these partnerships.
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Student Achievement
Cypress College partnered with Opportunity@Work to bring our students some amazing workshops. Through Opportunity@Work's Stellarworx platform, students are able to explore jobs on the market where they can apply their skills. Stellarworx is a job-searching platform where candidates can find a career that fits the skills they have developed. Thomas Itabiyi, one of our CIS students, used the Stellarworx platform and landed a job with Live Nation Entertainment as an IT support coordinator. Here is Thomas' experience:
I’ve always been into computer technology. At age 15 I taught myself HTML, CSS, and Perl (dating myself here). However, after a failed stint at DeVry University, I ended up in plumbing inside sales at the age of 19. Before hitting a paywall, I spent the next 17 years (on and off) in that industry. I asked myself, "What now?" In 2020 I decided to give my first love a second look. I took classes at Cypress College and obtained several certificates including my A+ and Security+. However, without a degree and prior experience, entry-level positions that I was more than qualified for would slip through my hands. That is, until I found Stellarworx.
Rose Francois, a representative from Opportunity@Work, put on several very informative presentations for Cypress College students and I was hooked. She and a few other Stellarworx representatives helped me to set up my profile on their website. A profile that caught the attention of my now manager at Live Nation Entertainment. My interview for Live Nation was unlike the dozens I had been on prior. The line of questioning was more about how I would fit into the company culture, my skill set, and my experiences (both professional and personal). The Stellarworx team stayed involved with the entire process and was quite helpful when communication stalled for a bit with Live Nation. The Stellarworx team maintained contact and really made me feel supported. I did the heavy lifting, but being spotted by them was invaluable to my career. Hopefully, yours as well!
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CyberPatriot XIV
Rhea Jethvani is a senior at Oxford Academy. She has been a part of the CyberPatriot program for the past six years. This year, she serves as the president of the CyberPatriot Club at Oxford Academy and is part of Oxford's Vision Team.
Her most memorable accomplishment across her years in the CyberPatriot program was the first time she configured a CISCO server. She feels rewarded seeing all the green lights light up as she configures all the checklist tasks. She also enjoyed training with the mentors. She liked how they always supported them during competitions and reminded them to have fun. She encourages others to try out the CyberPatriot program. Rhea believes that the CyberPatriot program provides a strong foundation for cybersecurity. In addition, she made lots of friends and made great memories throughout the program. This year will also be her last year with us. We want to give Rhea a big shout-out for her participation in CyberPatriot and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors.
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CS3^2 - Alpha Cohort
Jorge Gonsalez and Natalie Dang are current Alpha students who have been with us since 8th grade and are now 10th graders. We have seen their outstanding efforts and dedication to the team through their works and projects. Recently, our students had to create a cyber project to present during a district-wide event, Steam-a-Palooza, with the help of their teachers and mentors. They completed unique and intriguing projects to best capture what they had been learning and were able to present how they made their projects work successfully. We are very proud of their hard work and can't wait to see what other accomplishments they will achieve.
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CS3^2 - Beta Cohort
Luna Husani and Yolotzin Ortiz are two of our Beta students who have also been part of our program since they were in 8th grade. They are currently in 9th grade and were our first cohort to start in person after transitioning from Zoom to being on campus. They have demonstrated hard work in all their classes through the great projects that they have created. Like their fellow upper-level students, they had to develop projects for the district-wide event, Steam-a-Palooza, and present them to the many parents, staff, and students present that day. In their classrooms, they have also been working on projects to prepare them for their upcoming college courses, and they always make sure to put in their best efforts. We are incredibly proud of them, and we know they will continue to create great projects. They are just starting their journey and have already accomplished so much.
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Class of 2022
As graduation season approaches, we would like to recognize our hardworking CyberPatriot seniors. We want to celebrate our seniors for their hard work and dedication to the program throughout the year, specifically for those students who were in the program for more than one year. Despite the hardships students have faced over the years, such as online training during the pandemic, technology issues, numerous Saturday competitions, after-school training, and balancing schoolwork with other extracurriculars, our seniors stuck with the CyberPatriot program. Congratulations, class of 2022! We are proud of your achievements. We want to thank you for all the hard work you have put in, and we wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
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Alpha Cohort
As for our Alpha Cohort, students are wrapping up their college course, CIS 230C: Cisco Networking I, this spring semester. They are quickly getting closer to working on their career-specific certificates. Our high school teachers and college partners are working closely together to prepare our students for the exams they must take to earn their certificates. Their cyber teachers are even preparing to take some of these certification exams, so they understand firsthand how to prepare their students.
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Beta Cohort
Our Beta Cohort has begun to take its first college course, COUN 140. This course will prepare them for the upcoming college courses they will be taking for the remainder of their time in high school. The Counseling 140 course teaches students how to handle college courses properly, so they do not fall behind. The class aims to have the students be as prepared as they can be so that they are equipped with all the proper knowledge to succeed in their upcoming college class. They will be taking their first official CIS class this coming fall semester.
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Additionally, as classes have begun, our Beta girls have also started working with our partners at UCI in their WICS program that will take place throughout April and May. WICS is a UCI-established program that represents Women in Information and Computer Sciences. This program aims to create mentorships amongst current female college students and our 9th-grade female Beta students to help them in their journey into computer science. In this program, our students will meet with their college mentors on certain weekends and discuss different topics in their field of study. It is also an excellent opportunity for our students, who are now 10th graders, to return and support their colleagues as they were once in their shoes. WICS will provide a variety of workshops for our students during their time together and allow for hands-on activities.
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CyberPatriot @ Magnolia
Our Alpha and Beta students also participated in CyberPatriot XIV competition. We had a total of 24 Magnolia teams participate. This was Alpha's second year and Beta's first time competing in the competition. To conclude the season, we had four teams advance to the national semifinal, eight teams received silver, and six teams received gold. Excellent job, everyone!
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UCI Field Trip
On April 1, we took 60 of our CS3 students on a trip to the University of California, Irvine, to reward those who successfully passed all their high school classes and college courses at Cypress College this past fall semester. We took students to the UCI Rope Course, in which they were challenged as a team to cross through a variety of rope obstacles. Students had a great time and were encouraged to step out of their comfort zones in these activities; some even stated they overcame their fears.
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AHSIE Conference AHSIE 2022 focused on the "Best Practices" conference on the beautiful Tamayan land in New Mexico. During the conference, our team was able to gather that the pandemic completely shifted the approaches of outreach, recruitment, student participation, and student resources. Hearing how other schools across the nation have adapted to tough times inspired our team to think outside the box.
In addition, Hillary Calderon, a sophomore at Cypress College, was recognized with the Student Scholar Award. The impact that college had on Hillary's life was a reminder that Dual Enrollment offers life-changing opportunities.
We want to thank the AHSIE committee for putting a very inspirational and helpful conference together, and we cannot wait to join them next year.
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2022 California Community College Association for Occupational Education Conference allowed colleges across California to strengthen the community through inclusion and engagement. Cypress College staff and students showcased their hard work on cybersecurity by presenting with our fellow Southern California Community College Consortium on Cybersecurity (SOCAL CCCC) members this past April 7, 2022, at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento. Our consortium presented the exploration of IT/cybersecurity majors and careers, educating middle schools and high schools in the fundamentals of IT/cybersecurity, providing work-based learning and leadership opportunities for college students, and reducing equity and technology gaps among our students. It was great to honor hardworking students who competed in the 2021-22 CyberPatriot season and all students who have passed their industry exams. We want to thank CCAOE AND SOCAL CCCC for allowing our college to be part of such a groundbreaking conference.
We are looking forward to continuing to present on future conference dates.
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This project is funded by the National Science Foundation, grants #1902519. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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