Summit Technology Academy is among several distinguished schools from throughout the nation selected to host the Air Force Association’s (AFA) CyberCamp Program this summer. More than 75 students signed up for the Summit Technology Camp, scheduled June 25 to July 1, and July 25 to 29.
The program is taught by Lisa Oyler and Kevin Schulmeister, cyber security team coaches at Summit Technology Academy, as well as current CyberPatriot team mentors. Assisting with the camp are Teri Curp, Sue McCanless and Carrie Miller-Perry, assistant Lee’s Summit R-7 middle school CyberPatriot coaches for the 2016-17 school year.
As an AFA CyberCamp host, Summit Technology Academy receives software and a hands-on curriculum kit designed to teach students cyber safety, cyber ethics and critical network security skills and tools. Each AFA CyberCamp concludes with an exciting team-based competition that puts the campers in the role of IT administrators tasked with finding and addressing cybersecurity vulnerabilities in simulated network environments. The local AFA CyberCamp competitions will closely mimic AFA’s annual CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, which will enter its ninth season in October.
“As a CyberPatriot Center of Excellence, we felt compelled to provide cyber security education to a wider range of students,” said Mrs. Oyler. “Using the AFA curriculum students will be learning cyber awareness, ethical responsibility and how to secure networking devices and to develop a security policy. In addition they will be exposed to the rapidly growing and high-demand career field of cyber security.”
In addition to hosting one of the first AFA CyberCamps, Summit Technology Academy will field support 10 high school and eight middle school teams in the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition this fall.
During spring 2016, two Lee’s Summit R-7 teams captured top awards in the CyberPatriot national competition. A team from Summit Technology Academy won first place in the open division, and a team from Pleasant Lea Middle School took second place in the middle school division.
Summit Technology Academy was recently designated as a CyberPatriot Center of Excellence by the Air Force Association. Just eight schools in the nation have received this honor.
During the 2016-17 school year, the school is adding a cyber security program as part of its Missouri Innovation Campus. For more information about Summit Tech, the Missouri Innovation Campus and the cyber security program, visit http://sta.lsr7.org/.
The CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Education Program was created by the Air Force Association in 2009 to attract students to cyber security and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation’s future. In addition to the annual National Youth Cyber Defense Competition and the new AFA CyberCamp program, CyberPatriot has launched an Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative designed to introduce young students to online safety. To learn more about CyberPatriot, visit www.usycyberpatriot.org.
